NORTHERN IRELAND

Asbestos Removal

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public money was spent on the removal of asbestos from buildings identified as unsafe in each of the last three years in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: In the last three years some 97,000 Work Orders were issued for Maintenance, Minor Works and Major Capital Refurbishment Projects at Government buildings, totalling approximately £174 million in respect of estimated work value. Asbestos removal work would be an item on many of these orders. It is not possible to determine the full extent of any asbestos removals with any degree of accuracy without incurring disproportionate costs.
	Asbestos was, in the past, routinely used in construction by the building industry and as such, many of the older properties in the Government Estate contain this material.
	In late 1987, a plan of action was instigated to prepare Asbestos Registers for many properties within the Government Estate. Asbestos Surveys commenced from 1988 onwards, involving over 1,000 properties, many of which are currently known to contain Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs). Each Asbestos Register records the precise location, use, type and condition of all ACMs known to be present.
	In the intervening years, these Asbestos Registers have been maintained through various programmes of inspections, including the introduction of effective management and control procedures. These actions have maintained Government properties in a safe and occupiable condition, ensuring that any recorded ACMs present at each location do not present any significant risk to the health and safety of staff employed there or the visiting public.
	The Health and Safety Executive (NI) advises that asbestos is dangerous only if fibres are released into the atmosphere. There is no requirement to remove such ACMs if they are in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed. The HSE (NI) further advises that, where possible, ACMs should be left undisturbed, but that their presence should be effectively managed. Where ACMs are deemed in poor condition and require removal, such action is undertaken by specialist Asbestos Removal Contractors accredited by the HSE (NI), using a recognised and legislatively compliant safe system of work. Such work is also notifiable to the HSE (NI).
	Government Departments do not, therefore, have a general plan to remove asbestos from their buildings, but will remove such materials where regular inspections dictate such a recommendation.
	Asbestos removals, where not deemed necessary through regular inspections, i.e. as a result of planned disturbance, are normally carried out as an integral part of ongoing Maintenance, Minor Works or Major Capital Refurbishment Projects.

BBC Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings he has had with the Controller of BBC Northern Ireland.

Peter Hain: I must apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding, owing to an administrative error with the Department. Steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence.
	I have met the Controller of BBC Northern Ireland on two occasions since becoming Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Child Sex Abuse

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2006,  Official Report, column 723W, on child sex abuse, in what way the new database will trace offender clusters; how it will alert the authorities to the appearance of offender clusters; in what way offender clusters have traditionally been monitored; and how many people have been identified by way of offender clusters in each of the past three years for which there are records.

Paul Goggins: As stated in the answer to the hon. Gentleman of 23 March 2006, the Police Service of Northern Ireland is continuing to monitor the development of a new database by the UK's Police Information Technology Organisations. They have confirmed that neither this system nor the Case Administration and Tracking System will be able to identify offender clusters as they are both victim based systems.
	The National Intelligence Model currently uses the Integrated Crime Information System to monitor offender clusters. This model delivers the intelligence and analysis to enable audits to be conducted on all crime related issues and to identify and determine any response to offender clusters.
	No records are available for the number of people identified by way of offender clusters.

Coeliac Disease

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to ensure that general practitioners receive more appropriate training and support to enable them better to recognise and more accurately to diagnose coeliac disease.

Paul Goggins: A range of assessment tools are employed, by the Northern Ireland medical and dental training agency (NIMDTA), to determine the continuing professional development and training needs of general practitioners. The Department is issuing the recently published CREST guidelines for the diagnosis and management of coeliac disease in adults to health professionals in the HPSS and all GPs including locums, to assist with better recognition and more accurate diagnosis of the disease. NIMDTA will take account of the relevance of this work in identifying the future training needs of GPs.

Competitiveness

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effect of  (a) the cost of electricity and  (b) industrial de-rating on the competitiveness of the Northern Ireland economy.

Maria Eagle: The Cost of Doing Business Survey published by the Economic Research Institutefor Northern Ireland (ERINI) in December 2005 concluded that, on balance, business costs in Northern Ireland are relatively competitive when compared to GB and the Republic of Ireland. While some elements such as energy and insurance costs were found to be higher in Northern Ireland than in GB, these 'uncompetitive' costs together make up only a small proportion of business turnover.
	Industrial de-rating should not add significantly to the cost burden of manufacturing. In 2004 turnover in manufacturing was around £13.7 billion and even if rates liabilities had to be met in full (which is not due to happen until 2011) this would represent less than0.4 per cent. of this level of turnover. In addition, the revenues raised will enable significant investment in priority public services, which will benefit the economy. A policy review of industrial de-rating will take place in 2007 which will look at both its impact on manufacturers and also the implications for budgets and future levels of planned public expenditure.

Departmental Communications

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of communications from members of the public to the Northern Ireland Office were made by  (a) post,  (b) telephone and  (c) email during 2004.

Peter Hain: Information regarding telephone calls and emails is not held centrally however the NIO Departmental Report 2005, Appendix 1 Six Service Standards for Central Government sets out details of letters received from the public during 2004 as shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of letters received 
			 NIO Core 2,292 
			 Northern Ireland Prison Service 929 
			 Forensic Science Northern Ireland 157 
			 The Compensation Agency 97,141 
			 Public Prosecution Service 50

Disabled People

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on his Department's progress in fulfilling its statutory obligation as a public body of promoting the rights of disabled people.

Peter Hain: As a general principle the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) fulfils its statutory obligation as a public body for promoting the rights of disabled people through its equality scheme set up under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 which has disability as an equality category. The Department is presently reviewing its Equality Scheme and is in consultation with the Disability Commission to determine what if any additional measures need to be incorporated to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.
	At a practical level the NIO has developed it arrangements to support disabled people.
	A textphone service is available in the Department to allow people with hearing or speech disabilities to make contact with us.
	Arrangements for disabled people attending NIO events (e.g. Hillsborough Garden Party) have been reviewed recently in accordance with best practice guidelines on making events accessible.
	We are committed to widening the diversity of the people who sit on NIO public bodies: attracting and appointing more disabled people is a key element of this aim. Public appointment opportunities are circulated to 140 community groups and 1,400 individuals who have expressed an interest in applying for public appointments in Northern Ireland.
	The NIO participates in the Employment Support Scheme, run by the Department of Employment and Learning, which gives people whose disabilities would make it difficult for them to compete for and retain jobs in the open labour market the opportunity to work alongside non-disabled people.
	Within the Department a number of initiatives have concentrated on better facilities for staff with disabilities which include:
	A new IT System where provision was considered for disability including the appropriate software required for members of staff with sight impairment. Measures were also considered during the extensive training programme.
	A bursary scheme for staff with disabilities targeted at those with the potential to reach Grade A. This scheme provides the bursary holder with targeted training, placements and a SCS mentor to assist them develop the competences needed to aim for promotion.
	Promoting a working environment in the Department which actively challenges prejudice in relation to disability. This is done by raising awareness of disability issues through publicising good employment practice and the provision of disability awareness training.
	The provision of a Disabled Persons' Liaison Officer to liaise with disabled staff and managers to ensure that jobs are adapted to the specific needs of individuals such as - adjustments to premises to alleviate access problems, reorganising the duties of a post to suit a particular disability, to organise the transfer of staff to a particular post suited to their disability, altering the working hours of an individual to facilitate rehabilitation or treatment, provision of information to suit the needs of staff with visual disabilities i.e. conversion to Braille, acquiring or adapting office equipment, the provision of sign language interpreters for staff with hearing difficulties and facilitation of a disability network group which is self run by disabled NIO staff who meet regularly to discuss issues affecting disabled staff in the Department.

Dissident Republican Paramilitaries

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2006,  Official Report, column 724W, on dissident republican paramilitaries, whether the publication of the eighth report of the independent monitoring commission provided him with information on dissident republican paramilitary recruitment of which he had not previously been in possession.

Paul Goggins: In his answers of 27 February, 16 March 2006 and 19 April 2006, my right hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Woodward) advised that the recently published IMC report indicated that there is evidence that dissident republican groups are attempting to recruit members. Mr. Woodward based his information on the eighth IMC report which was published on 1 February 2006.

Dissident Republican Paramilitaries

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2006,  Official Report, column 724W, on dissident republican paramilitaries, whether the independent monitoring commission had access to security sources in preparing its eighth report that he does not have.

Paul Goggins: The role of the independent monitoring commission is to help promote the establishment of stable and inclusive devolved Government in a peaceful Northern Ireland. It reports to the Government on inter alia activity by paramilitary groups and the normalisation of security measures. My right hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Woodward), based his assessments on the IMC reports.

Female Prisoners

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many female convicted prisoners there were in Northern Ireland on 1 January  (a) 2001 and  (b) 2006.

Paul Goggins: On 1 January 2001 there were nine female sentenced prisoners. On 1 January 2006 there were 10 female sentenced prisoners.

Invest Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the written statement of 10 May 2006,  Official Report, column 20WS, on Northern Ireland (Future Garrison Structure), whether Invest Northern Ireland plans to take steps to promote employment opportunities in the East Londonderry constituency.

Maria Eagle: Invest NI's role is to increase competitiveness in its client companies by helping them become more entrepreneurial, innovative and capable of operating in export markets. Investment in business competitiveness leads to greater wealth-creation and better employment opportunities for all. This was seen, for example, in last year's reinvestment by Seagate where Invest NI worked in partnership with the company to create 300 additional jobs in the area. The agency will continue to pursue all such opportunities within its client base.
	Since 2003 Invest NI has secured over £240 million of investment into the North West promoting over 1,100 new jobs. During the last financial year the Agency secured agreements for three new Foreign Direct Investment projects to be based in the North West generating further investment of £1.5 million in the region. These projects will promote 50 new jobs and contribute approximately £700,000 to the local economy through annual salaries.
	Increasing the number of new business starts is another key source of job creation and, through partnerships with local stakeholders, Invest NI is also actively promoting enterprise and business start-ups in the area. Since the Agency was established in 2002, 574 new businesses have been assisted in the East Londonderry constituency. These new businesses are forecast to create over 700 additional jobs.
	The first phase of the North West Action Plan has been successfully delivered. This has resulted in additional total investment in the area of over £60 million. The second phase of the plan is currently being prepared and we will build on the success of phase 1, working with a wide range of interests, to further increase employment opportunities in the area.
	The Department for Employment and Learning will support employers who are expanding their work force or creating new jobs by providing job brokering services and suitable training programmes where appropriate. The Department will also provide advice and support for all employees who lose their jobs as a result of redundancy. Staff from the local jobs and benefits office will provide advice on alternative job opportunities and access to training courses and will also ensure that those who have lost their jobs are able to access advice on a range of other issues such as benefits and taxation.

Ministerial Travel

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions since 7 July he has used the London Underground in connection with his official duties.

Peter Hain: I must apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding, owing to an administrative error with the Department. Steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence.
	I have used the London Underground but not in connection with any of my official duties.

Personal Protection Weapons

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to re-possess on-loan personal protection weapons in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The Chief Constable plans to withdraw on-loan personal protection weapons as the current firearm certificates held in respect of each of them expires. Those who continue to be authorised to possess a personal protection weapon will then be required to purchase their own firearm.
	The Army state that Army Department PPWs issued to army personnel will be withdrawn from PPW holders on or before their last day of service. There is currently under way a review to determine whether the circumstances still remain extant for each of the present PPW holders to retain their weapons.
	Prison Service staff who have been issued with a PPW under the General Threat Due to Occupation category will in future be considered under the Specific Threat Criteria when their Firearms Certificate falls due for renewal.

Police

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the original projected cost was of the police training college in Northern Ireland; and what the estimated final cost is.

Paul Goggins: The original outline business case estimated a cost of £74.6 million for construction of the college. With professional fees and land costs, this gave a total projected cost in the 2002 outline business case of £102.9 million. The 2005 outline business case estimated the cost, on the basis of prices at the fourth quarter of 2006, at £134.15 million. This business case has yet to be considered at a meeting of the project board.
	Costs increased between 2002 and 2005 due to inflation, security requirements associated with the site and new requirements associated with simulated training areas.
	The Government have advised the policing board and PSNI that it will make available £90 million for the college.

Police

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on recruitment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: In 1998 when the Patten Commission was conducting its investigation, only 8.3 per cent. of regular officers were from the Roman Catholic community. In less than five years, under the temporary 50:50 provisions Catholic composition among regular officers has risen to 19.68 per cent. with a total of 2,219 recruits having been selected for appointment on a 50:50 basis.
	Our goal is to increase Catholic representation to30 per cent. by 2010-11; the date envisaged by Patten to achieve this aim. The Government recognise that 50:50 recruitment is an exceptional means to addressing an exceptional problem and we firmly believe that these temporary provisions are justified to rectify an acute historical imbalance in the composition of the Police Service in Northern Ireland. These exceptional measures are reviewed every three years, with the next, and hopefully final, such review due later this year. While we envisage that the provisions will be renewed in March 2007, this will be subject to detailed review of the policy, extensive consultation, and debate in both houses. If the 50:50 provisions were not in place then it would not be possible to achieve our 30 per cent. target by 2010-11. I am pleased to say that we are very much on target to reach this goal with a further interim target of 23.5 per cent. set for March 2008.
	In the first eight competitions there were over 28,000 applications from non-Catholics, of which 541 will have been rejected directly as a result of these temporary provisions. In other words less than 2 per cent. of all non-Catholic applicants will have been rejected as a direct result of the 50:50 provision.
	Although the Patten Report focused on the imbalance between the number of Catholics and Protestants in the composition of the Police Service, it rightly recognised the importance of gender and ethnic minority representation. It is notable that female composition has risen from 13 per cent. to 20.42 per cent. and the ethnic minority background composition compares favourably with the overall level of the working age ethnic minority population in Northern Ireland and continues to rise.
	In terms of the steps taken to recruit police officers, the oversight commissioner has commented that the advertising programme has been both imaginative and assiduous. It has varied between competitions, but has included press, television, billboard, cinema and online advertising, all designed to reach groups currently under-represented in the Police Service.
	The responses from all communities have been extremely positive and the results have exceeded expectations. The latest campaign (10) saw the highest number of applications yet, with 7,691 applications competing for 220 places. 37 per cent. of these applications were from the Catholic community which is the highest rate to date and the number of ethnic minority applications doubled.
	In addition to a large number of Northern Ireland applicants, applications have been received from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, as well as from a number of other countries.

Security Forces (Republic of Ireland)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions security forces from the Republic of Ireland have crossed into Northern Ireland while on operation  (a) with and  (b) without the consent of UK authorities in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: The police service of Northern Ireland continue to have a good operational relationship with both the military and 'an garda siochana' in the Republic of Ireland. This relationship has involved a number of operations in which officers have crossed into Northern Ireland with the consent of UK authorities to frustrate and detect criminality. It would not be possible to quantify the number of occasions during which this has occurred in the last 10 years.
	PSNI is not aware of any occasions during which operations from the Republic of Ireland have crossed into Northern Ireland without consent.

Staff Surveys

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff surveys have been conducted in  (a) each department in Northern Ireland and  (b) his Department in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: The following table details the number of staff surveys undertaken by each of the 11 NICS core departments and the Northern Ireland Office during the last three years. The information has been provided on a financial year basis.
	The information covers surveys undertaken at an NICS-wide, departmental, directorate, divisional and branch level unless where indicated otherwise.
	
		
			  Department  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 DARD 8 9 9 
			 DCAL 2 0 1 
			 DE 3 5 4 
			 DEL(1) 1 2 5 
			 DETI 1 5 8 
			 DFP(1) 1 1 5 
			 DHSSPS 4 4 3 
			 DOE 0 0 0 
			 DRD 1 2 5 
			 DSD 0 2 4 
			 NIO 2 6 5 
			 OFMDFM 3 18 14 
			 Total 26 54 63 
			 (1 )Branch level survey information could be provided only at disproportionate costs

Sustainable Development Strategy

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Strategy for Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland launched the Sustainable Development Strategy on 9 May and also announced a transfer of responsibility for the Strategy to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to place sustainable development policy at the heart of Government. I intend to publish the initial Implementation Plan as soon as possible.

DEFENCE

Aircraft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopters of each type  (a) have and  (b) have not been fitted with fuel tank protection, broken down by service; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: All helicopters have some degree of fuel tank protection. Precise details of the specific fuel tank protection measures employed on particular MOD helicopter fleets are being withheld, because their disclosure could prejudice the safety of our Armed Forces.

Aircraft

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army aviation helicopters had full nuclear, biological and chemical protection  (a) on the last date for which figures are available and  (b) in 1997.

Adam Ingram: It is not possible to protect Army helicopter airframes against nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) contamination. However, any aircrew that operate these airframes in a NBC environment are afforded NBC protection through individual protective equipment and specialist aircrew assemblies which are not integral to the airframes themselves.

Conscientious Objectors

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what remuneration the six members of the advisory committee on conscientious objectors have received in each of the last five years.

Des Browne: As the committee has not convened in the last five years, the six members have received no remuneration.

Departmental Procurement

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to publish the findings of his Department's review of the extent to which current processes and organisational constructs support, encourage, hinder and obstruct the delivery of excellence in acquisition; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The hon. Member refers to the Enabling Acquisition Change Review. It is our intention to publish the outcome of that review and to make a statement at that time.

Departmental Publications

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2006,  Official Report, column 29W, on departmental publications, 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library copies of The Mole issued since 1 January 2005;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library the  (a) latest edition of The Mole and  (b) final edition of Compass.

Tom Watson: holding answer 18 May 2006
	I will make arrangements for redacted copies to be placed in the Library of the House as soon as practicable.

Elbit

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he made of the ethical credentials of Elbit prior to awarding the UK Watchkeeper contract to the company.

Adam Ingram: None. The contract for the demonstration and manufacture phase of the Watchkeeper programme was awarded to Thales UK in July 2005. Elbit is a sub-contractor selected by Thales UK for the supply of the air vehicle. The company is also a partner with Thales UK in a joint venture to provide major subsystems for Watchkeeper, also through a sub-contract let and managed by Thales UK.

Helicopter Search and Rescue

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the written statement of 9 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 12-14WS, on helicopter search and rescue, what assessment he has made of the cost implications of the new arrangements for the helicopter search and rescue service.

Adam Ingram: As part of the procurement strategy assessment, an investment appraisal was conducted, which considered the full range of options available. The results were scrutinised by both the MOD and the Department for Transport (DfT) and it was concluded that a private finance initiative is likely to offer the best value for money and strategic fit for the future UK search and rescue helicopter capability.

Iraq

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the head of British forces in Iraq wears US Army rank insignia; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Senior Commanders in Iraq wear US rank insignia (stars) in addition to their standard rank insignia to assist Coalition and Iraqi partners to identify their position and equivalent rank. This is particularly useful for those coalition Commanders who work in, and regularly visit, Multi National Force (MNF) Headquarters. In addition, the wearing of rank stars aids interaction with Iraqi military hierarchy and politicians—all of whom understand the star structure.

Iraq

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate has been made of the number of non-state militia operating in  (a) Al Basra,  (b) Al Muthanna,  (c) Dhi Qar and  (d) Maysan province in Iraq.

Des Browne: Two main militias are known to operate in Multi-National Division (South-East): these are SCIRI's Badr Organisation and Muqtada al-Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM), each with a significant following. There are a number of other militia groups with much smaller membership and influence.

Iraq/Afghanistan

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the technical capability of the weapons being used by insurgents against coalition forces in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: Coalition forces continuously monitor and assess the full range of weapons used by insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Our assessments, including predictions of how the threat might evolve, influence the conduct of military operations as well as equipment countermeasures.

Project Delivery Skills

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of levels of project delivery skills within his Department.

Adam Ingram: The December 2005 defence industrial strategy (DIS) white paper recognised the need to address shortages of project, programme management and acquisition leadership skills. Seven specific skills areas within the acquisition organisations have been identified for attention; leadership, programme management, project management, commercial management, procurement, logistics, science and technology management and resource management. senior professionals have been appointed as 'skills champions' for each of these areas and will undertake an assessment of the levels of skills currently available in these areas. Their work will include an assessment of skills shortfalls linked directly to MOD's business needs, and of the likely causes of shortfalls, including problems relating to recruitment, retention and development. This work will be completed by the end of May 2006 and will form the basis of urgent action to train and develop our workforce.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Estate

David Amess: To ask the Leader of the House what (a) land and  (b) property his Department (i) leases and (ii) leased in (A) 1979, (B) 1983, (C) 1987, (D) 1992 and (E) 1997 in (1) the Southend West constituency,(2) Essex, (3) Hertfordshire and (4) the Metropolitan Police area of London.

Jack Straw: None. During the periods mentioned, the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons occupied space in the Metropolitan Police area of London belonging to the Cabinet Office, under a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation.
	The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons was not responsible for the lease of this building.

Joint Committees

David Amess: To ask the Leader of the House if he will make it his policy not to table a motion for a Joint Committee on a draft Bill until the draft Bill has been published; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Motions to establish a Joint Committee on a draft Bill are occasionally tabled ahead of the publication of the draft Bill in cases where it is understood that this would assist the Committee. It has been indicated in the past that Joint Committees have found it helpful to have been established ahead of the publication of the draft Bill, to enable them to undertake preparatory work. I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 35 of the First Report of the Liaison Committee of session 2004-05 (HC 419).

Parliamentary Recalls

David Amess: To ask the Leader of the House on which occasions the House has been recalled in each session since 1976; and for what reason the House was recalled in each case.

Jack Straw: Recalls of the House, under what is now Standing Order No. 13, since 1976 have been as follows:
	
		
			   Occasion 
			  2002  
			 24 September Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction 
			 3 April Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother 
			   
			  2001  
			 14 September International terrorism and attacks in the USA 
			 4 October  
			 8 October  
			   
			  1998  
			 2-3 September Omagh Bomb: Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Bill 
			   
			  1995  
			 31 May Bosnia 
			   
			  1992  
			 24-25 September Government economic policy; UN operations in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Somalia 
			   
			  1990  
			 6-7 September Kuwait Invasion 
			   
			  1982  
			 14 April Falkland Islands 
			 3 April Falkland Islands 
		
	
	This information is available in a Library Standard Note "Recall of Parliament" which is available on the Parliament website at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-01186.pdf

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside the House in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in the House service; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Nick Harvey: The cash expenditure from the administration estimate on externally-sourced IT equipment purchase and maintenance, and corporate system development during the last four years has been:
	
		
			  £000 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 IT equipment 2,657 2,554 639 1,150 
			 IT maintenance 1,995 1,955 2,022 3,542 
			 Software 467 431 683 65 
			 System development 2,216 3,421 4,989 3,632 
			 Total 7,335 8,360 8,333 8,389 
		
	
	Figures for 2001-02 are not readily available following the replacement of the financial accounting systems in October 2003.
	The Commission is not responsible for expenditure on Members' IT equipment. However, I understand that the cash costs of this have been:
	
		
			   Members' IT equipment (£000) 
			 2002-03 1,230 
			 2003-04 792 
			 2004-05 725 
			 2005-06 2,094 
		
	
	Prior to 2006 responsibility for information technology projects rested with the particular Department concerned. Cross-departmental projects, or projects which involved both Houses, were managed by projects boards established by the Board of Management. The project boards used external expertise to advise on and support the projects, and the procurement of this expertise was subject to a tender process for each project. Overall supervision was provided by a board, including Members with extensive experience in IT project management.
	Since January 2006, a single service (PICT) has been established to manage IT projects and service contracts for both Houses. Project activity will be supervised by the management boards of both Houses through a joint board.
	Parliamentary ICT staff are given appropriate training and a number have relevant qualifications, though details of these are not held centrally. PICT is currently in the process of adopting an approach to staff competence, training and development pioneered by the British Computer Society.

Meat and Poultry

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission which company supplies the House with meat and poultry; and what steps are taken to ensure that its chickens are not fed on soya grown in the Amazon rainforest  (a) on illegally deforested land and  (b) with use of slavery.

Nick Harvey: The Refreshment Department retains three suppliers of fresh meat and poultry products: Billfields Food Co Ltd., Nigel Fredericks Catering Butchers and Russell Hume Ltd. Neither Nigel Fredericks nor Russell Hume supply soya-fed chicken to the House of Commons. The Billfields Food Company is unable to guarantee that chickens supplied to the House of Commons are not reared on feeds containing soya, nor are they able to give an absolute assurance about the region of origin of soya that may be present in the animal feeds used by their suppliers.

Parliamentary Questions

Gregory Campbell: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the cost to the House was of processing written questions in each of the last three years.

Nick Harvey: Readily available printing and publishing costs cover both oral and written questions. We estimate the part of these costs attributable to written questions in each of the last three years to have been:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2003-04 1,620,900 
			 2004-05 1,350,300 
			 2005-06 1,463,900 
		
	
	This does not include the costs of electronic publishing, which cannot easily be disaggregated.
	Staff costs for 2005-06 are estimated at £841,900, on the basis of the proportion of time spent on written questions by the staff involved, using 2005-06 pay rates at the midpoint of each scale, including employer's national insurance contributions and employer's pension contributions. Costs of accommodation, lighting, heating, etc. are not included. Estimates of staff costs for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	This gives a total for 2005-06 of £2,305,800. This does not include the subsequent printing of the answers in the  Official Report, indexing and entering on databases, nor the costs to the House of Commons Service of answering written questions addressed to me, representing the Commission.

Private Sector Fund Recipients

Christopher Huhne: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from the House in each of the last five years.

Nick Harvey: Details of individual financial transactions are only retained for the last three years. The 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments since 2003-04 are:
	
		
			  2003-04  £000 
			 The Stationery Office 10,147 
			 Cushman and Wakefield, Healey and Baker 5,914 
			 Balfour Kilpatrick Ltd. 3,740 
			 Mansell Construction Serv Ltd. 3,288 
			 Mansell Plc 2,540 
			 Wates Construction Ltd. 2,387 
			 Seele Avis Fenestration Ltd. 2,252 
			 Computacenter Ltd. 2,084 
			 Mitie Cleaning (Southeast) Ltd. 2,037 
			 William Verry Limited 1,859 
			   
			  2004-05  
			 The Stationery Office 10,885 
			 Mansell Construction Serv Ltd. 7,633 
			 Cushman and Wakefield, Healey and Baker 5,968 
			 Morse Group Limited 4,322 
			 Benson Ltd 3,161 
			 Mitie Cleaning (Southeast) Ltd. 2,638 
			 Mansell Plc 2,191 
			 Computacenter Ltd. 1,824 
			 Saltash Enterprises 1,706 
			 Kier Regional Ltd.—Wallis Division 1,674 
			   
			  2005-06  
			 Stationery Office 10,587 
			 Cushman and Wakefield, Healey and Baker 6,508 
			 William Verry Limited 4,709 
			 Mansell Construction Serv Ltd. 4,375 
			 Mitie Cleaning (Southeast) Ltd. 3,047 
			 Insight Management and Systems Consultants Ltd. 1,747 
			 Morse Group Limited 1,734 
			 Kier Regional Ltd.—Wallis Division 1,669 
			 EDf Energy 1,649 
			 Seele Avis Fenestration Ltd. 1,557

Vote Office Print Unit

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the retail price per issue was of  (a) the daily,  (b) the weekly and  (c) the bound edition of the  Official Report in each year since 1988; and how many copies were sold.

Nick Harvey: Pricing and sales of House of Lords publications are not a matter for the Commission. Pricing and sales of House of Commons publications became a matter for the Commission only in November 1996, when the Stationery Office was privatised. Complete records of copies sold are available only back to 1999. The price and sales information available for the publications requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Official Report: Daily Part 
			  Financial Year  Price (£)  Copies sold 
			 1999-2000 5.00 96,829 
			 2000-01 5.00 99,231 
			 2001-02 5.00 75,585 
			 2002-03 5.00 73,558 
			 2003-04 5.00 62,139 
			 2004-05 5.00 47,951 
			 2005-06 5.00 33,954 
		
	
	
		
			  Official Report: Weekly 
			  Financial Year  Price (£)  Copies sold 
			 1999-2000 12.00 9,036 
			 2000-01 12.00 9,076 
			 2001-02 12.00 8,330 
			 2002-03 12.00 7,965 
			 2003-04 12.00 6,288 
			 2004-05 12.00 4,815 
			 2005-06 12.00 4,299 
		
	
	
		
			  Official Report: Bound Volume 
			  Financial Year  Price (£)  Copies sold 
			 1999-2000 70.00 4,961 
			 2000-01 70.00 4,289 
			 2001-02 70.00 3,276 
			 2002-03 70.00 4,130 
			 2003-04 70.00 3,659 
			 2004-05 (1)105.00 2,876 
			 2005-06 (1)105.00 1,082 
			 (1) Bound Volume format changed from two to three-weekly content and the price was adjusted accordingly.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures he is taking to assist Bangladesh in tackling arsenic poisoning in its water supply.

Gareth Thomas: Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh's water supply is naturally occurring, and mainly affects shallow tube wells. DFID is currently providing £1 million to the Government of Bangladesh's (GoB) Arsenic Policy Support Unit to ensure that arsenic contamination is addressed as part of the GoB's safe drinking water policy. A new programme is being developed in conjunction with the GoB and the World Bank to prepare a groundwater management strategy, which will promote and enable greater use of deep tube wells which are uncontaminated by arsenic.
	In addition, DFID is providing £15 million to the Advancing Sustainable Environmental Health (ASEH) programme in Bangladesh, implemented by WaterAid. ASEH has provided a rigorous and effective system for testing and monitoring arsenic in all new groundwater supplies provided since 2002. ASEH also provides information and support to enable communities to access arsenic free water supplies.
	DFID is also planning to contribute up to £40 million to the GoB/UNICEF Sanitation, Hygiene, Education and Water Supply—Bangladesh (SHEWA-B) programme. SHEWA-B includes a significant arsenic mitigation component, and will target almost 4,000 villages (6,400,000 people) where over 80 per cent. of tube wells are affected.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the extent to which the sixth round of grants by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will receive adequate funding from the international community.

Gareth Thomas: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has estimated that it will need approximately US$1 billion for round six. Currently only US$46 million is available. The Global Fund needs significantly more funding from existing and potential donors to ensure that the sixth round of new grants is approved and fully funded in 2006. This will be a challenge for the Global Fund. The UK will continue to work with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to encourage other donors including the EU, the private sector and oil rich countries to increase their support to the Global Fund.
	The UK provides very generous support to the Global Fund. We doubled our pledge for 2006 and 2007 to £100 million in each year. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is only one part of the UK's contribution to tackling AIDS. We are committed to spend at least £1.5 billion between 2005-06 and 2007-08 on the global AIDS response.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to encourage  (a) other countries and  (b) private sector donors to contribute funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Gareth Thomas: The UK strongly supports the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and has committed £359 million to the fund for 2002-08, including £100 million for 2006 and the same for 2007. The UK is meeting its "fair share" of support to the Global Fund and we need to ensure that other donors including the private sector contribute their "fair share".
	We are encouraging other donors in our bilateral discussions to contribute to the Global Fund. We will continue to lobby the G8 for extra funds.. We are also encouraging the G8 Finance Ministers meeting in June to take stock of existing Global Fund commitments in order to agree additional finance for 2006 and 2007 at the St. Petersburg Summit. We will also continue using our influence with the private sector, Oil Rich States and the EC.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will increase his Department's contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Gareth Thomas: The UK provided very generous support to the Global Fund Replenishment in 2005 and has doubled its pledge for 2006 and 2007 to £100 million in each year. This means that our overall share of support for the Global Fund at around 5.1 per cent. is consistent with our support over the 2001-05 period. The UK is meeting its "fair share" and other donors need to do the same; we are encouraging them to do so.
	The UK has no further plans at the moment to increase its contribution to the Global Fund. The Global Fund is only one part of our contribution to tackling AIDS; the UK accounted for 20 per cent. of all direct bilateral donor commitments to the fight against AIDS in 2004(1). We are committed to spend at least £1.5 billion on the global AIDS response in the three years from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Our direct support goes to 39 different countries.
	(1) Source:
	(Resource Needs For An Expanded Response to AIDS in Low and Middle Income Countries) UNAIDS August 2005

Home Working

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people in his Department have been enabled to work from home in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: DFID does not keep records of the number of home workers.
	However, DFID operates a 'one machine' policy under which each member of staff elects to be equipped with either a desktop computer or, subject to the approval of their Head of Department, a laptop computer. The laptop option enables staff to work from home or at other remote locations while travelling on behalf of the Department. At 31 March, 1,678 staff had been issued with laptops.
	DFID is committed to improving work/life balance, values diversity and accommodates a wide range of different work patterns including the use of home working. DFID's policy is set out both in the Staff Handbook, which is available to all staff electronically, and in a booklet "Flexible Working", which is given to staff on their arrival.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) on 20 January 2006,  Official Report, column 1642W, for the figures for the three largest IT projects over the last five years.
	DFID has also let a number of small IT related contracts. However, our central records do not distinguish IT contracts, so provision of details for these contracts would incur disproportionate costs.

Millennium Development Goals

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the millennium development goal for universal primary education is met by 2015.

Gareth Thomas: DFID plans to spend £1.4 billion on education from 2005-08. This support helps countries to invest in teacher training and salaries, purchase text books and construct new schools and classrooms. DFID plans to further increase its support and aims to spend approximately £8.5 billion in support of education over the next ten years. This long-term commitment will provide governments with predictable funding against which they can prepare ambitious 10 year investment plans to achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) for universal primary education.
	More information on DFID's work on universal primary education, including DFID's work in specific countries, is included in the DFID departmental report 2006 which is available in the Libraries of the House.

Overseas Development Agency

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the expenditure of the Overseas Development Agency was in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2005, broken down by (i) staffing, (ii) accommodation and departmental offices, (iii) travel expenses, (iv) development project funding and (v) other expenditure.

Hilary Benn: DFID's expenditure for 2004-05 and 2005-06 was as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Expenditure  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Staffing 93,700 101,096 
			 Accommodation and departmental offices 27,851 28,842 
			 Travel expenses 13,337 12,646 
			 Bilateral funding (1)2,145,000 (1)2,321,000 
			 Other expenditure (1)3,265,000 (less the above) (1)3,750,000 (less the above) 
			 (1) Rounded to the nearest million.  Notes: 1. Staff costs include wages and salaries, social security costs and other pension costs for permanently employed staff, Ministers, special advisers and "other", which include costs for seconded officers and those on fixed term contracts. The figures for 2005-06 are provisional, as final outturn figures are not yet available. 2. Accommodation and departmental office costs include rent, rates utilities and maintenance costs. 3. The figures for travel reflect all domestic and overseas travel for Ministers, advisers and officials, which include the costs of accommodation and subsistence. 4. Bilateral funding includes all forms of direct assistance. The 2005-06 figures are provisional, as final outturn figures are not yet available. 5. Other spend represents both administration costs and programme costs, not covered by the previous headings, examples of which would be staff training—on the administration expenditure and multilateral contributions on programme expenditure.

Private Office Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of his private office staff is  (a) male,  (b) female and  (c) disabled.

Gareth Thomas: The following table shows the percentage of current DFID private office staff by gender and those who had declared a disability. Declaration of a disability is voluntary.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Total 8 
			   
			 Males 2 
			 Male (percentage) 25 
			   
			 Females 6 
			 Female (percentage) 75 
			   
			 Staff with declared disability 0 
			 Percentage declared disabled 0

Protectionism

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in reducing the impact of protectionist trade policies on poor countries; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: In recent years there has been a good deal of progress in reducing protectionist trade policies which impact on poor countries. Within the EU for example, agricultural import tariffs declined by an average of 36 per cent. between 1995 and 2000. Our current projections are that once the reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy agreed in 2003 have worked through, EU reliance on export subsidies will have reduced by approximately 65 per cent. compared with 1997.
	But there is still much to be done outside the EU as well as within, which is why the UK supports an ambitious outcome to the current round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations in areas such as agriculture, industrial products and services, with meaningful special and differential treatment for developing countries built in. It also includes the elimination of export subsidies and other equivalent measures by 2013, which was agreed at the Hong Kong ministerial meeting in December. Time is running out for such an ambitious outcome to the current WTO negotiations, and discussions between the key players have intensified since the Hong Kong meeting to try to narrow the gaps that still remain, and reach a consensus on a balanced package of agreements across the main negotiating areas.

Tsunami Evaluation Coalition

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition's report will be published.

Gareth Thomas: The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, a group of UN relief agencies, non-government organisations, the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement and other donors, will publish its report on 14 July 2006, in both London and Geneva.

TRANSPORT

Channel Tunnel

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with  (a) the French police,  (b) Kent police and  (c) Eurotunnel regarding security in the channel tunnel.

Derek Twigg: The Secretary of State has not had reason to discuss security issues with any of the named parties recently. However, Department for Transport officials meet with these organisations regularly at various fora including the Intergovernmental Commission, its Joint Security Committee, the channel tunnel operational sub-group of the National Rail Security Committee and the Multi-Agency Threat and Risk Assessment (MATRA) group at Eurotunnel. Officials also have regular contact and discussions in the course of routine security monitoring activities.

Channel Tunnel

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what security equipment is in place to scan  (a) freight traffic and  (b) passengers on Eurotunnel.

Derek Twigg: While I cannot publicly disclose the details of the security equipment, or how it is deployed at the channel tunnel, to avoid its potential compromise, I can confirm that, among other measures, x-ray equipment and explosive detection technology is in place to screen freight at the Eurotunnel site at Cheriton. A range of security measures is in place in respect of passengers, their luggage, and their vehicles including explosive trace detection, manual searching and under-vehicle video.

Consultants

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the relationship between his Department's expenditure on external consultants and efficiency gains; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 17 May 2006
	External consultants have only been used in support of the Department's efficiency programme to provide expertise that is not available in-house. The use of external consultants is assessed on a case by case basis in terms of the value that can be added by their skills and expertise and the potential benefits.

Cycling

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all children have the opportunity to undertake the cycle proficiency training scheme and test.

Derek Twigg: The responsibility for delivering cycle training in schools rests with individual local highway authorities.
	We have with the help of over 20 road safety and cycling organisations including ROSPA, the CTC, local authorities and Cycling England developed an improved new child cycle training standard to replace the old style cycle proficiency test.
	To support the new standard we have throughour advisory body Cycling England awarded over£1 million to support capacity building in cycle training. Grants and bursaries are available for trainers and training centres to teach the new standards together with a national training helpline.
	Cycling England is also funding jointly with the bicycle industry cycle training through their 'Bike It' initiative which delivers additional funding for cycle training, cycle parking at schools and helps schools implement their school travel plans on cycling.

Lamp Posts

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many lamp posts on motorways and trunk roads in each region of England have reached the end of their recommended lifespan.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of lamp posts on motorways and trunk roads, for which the Highways Agency (HA) is responsible, that have reached the end of their recommended lifespan, is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Region  Number 
			 North 5,326 
			 West Midlands 3,296 
			 East and East Midlands 5,266 
			 South West 1,270 
			 South East 9,021 
		
	
	The numbers contained in the table are as accurate as possible.
	Further details are contained in a table which has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	It should be noted that where a lighting column is beyond its estimated lifespan it does not necessarily mean that it is dangerous. By using careful maintenance, the practical life of a column can be extended. The HA employs a robust maintenance strategy.

M60

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in resolving the flooding problems on the M60 motorway between Denton and Hollinwood, Oldham.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency's initial works pilot to re-profile a section of the affected carriageway to improve surface water drainage was originally planned for spring 2006. The design is currently being finalised, and to avoid conflict with other works, this work is now programmed for summer 2006, with the aim of undertaking the remaining work in 2007.

Manchester Metrolink

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement concerning the funding for the Manchester Metrolink extension to Ashton-Under-Lyne.

Derek Twigg: An announcement will be made in due course, once we have completed our consideration of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive's business case.

Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made by  (a) his Department and  (b) the Highways Agency of(i) projected traffic volumes into and out of the West Midlands and (ii) the improvements that would be needed as a consequence of the development of the Milton Keynes South Midlands growth area.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency has commissioned consultants to study the future capacity and operational performance of the M6 between junction 4 and the M1 at junction 19, and the A46 between junction 2 of M6 and the A46/A45 Tollbar End junction to the East of Coventry. The anticipated traffic growth resulting from the additional development expected in the Milton Keynes South Midlands growth area will be taken into account in the traffic modelling for this scheme.

Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will improve junction 19 of the M1 to improve traffic flows between the Milton Keynes South Midlands growth area and the West Midlands region.

Stephen Ladyman: A scheme to improve junction 19 of the M1 was incorporated into the Government's Targeted Programme of Improvements [TPI] in February 2003.
	The improvement scheme will allow for all traffic movements to and from the M1, M6 and A14, by providing an elevated four level junction. The improvement will reduce congestion, long tailbacks and accident risks on all three routes.
	Subject to funding and the successful completion of statutory procedures, construction is programmed to start in late 2007/early 2008 with completion in 2010.

Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what local transport infrastructure improvements are being considered in consequence of an enlarged travel to work area for the Milton Keynes South Midlands growth area as indicated in its development plans.

Stephen Ladyman: The Milton Keynes South Midlands Sub Regional Strategy, published in March 2005, provides strategic guidance on the scale, location and timing of development and associated transport infrastructure to 2021. It is for local authorities in the growth area (and on its boundaries) to consider and bring forward proposals for local transport infrastructure through their Local Transport Plans. Those plans should be informed by the Sub-Regional Strategy.

Motoring Revenues

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the total revenue from  (a) motoring taxes,  (b) road tolls and  (c) fees paid to the Government by motorists in each of the past 10 years.

Stephen Ladyman: On  (a), motoring taxes are a matter for the Chancellor.
	On  (b), the Government only receive income from one undertaking—the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing. Income from tolls at other statutory tolled undertakings is retained by the operator. For information about the revenue from the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, I refer to the answers given to the hon. Members for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) on 14 February 2006,  Official Report, column 1884W and Gravesham (Mr. Holloway) on 20 April 2006,  Official Report, columns 752-53W.
	On  (c), figures for fee income are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Service  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06( 1) 
			 Practical car driving test 46.7 37.9 40.4 43.7 46.5 49.7 54.6 59.0 70.6 85.0 
			 Practical lorry and bus driving test 5.6 3.7 4.6 4.4 4.7 5.5 6.3 6.8 7.9 9.4 
			 Practical motorcycle driving test 5.4 3.1 3.7 4.6 5.1 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.1 4.6 
			 Motorcycle compulsory basic training 0.5 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.5 
			 Driving theory test 16.9 18.8 18.8 18.6 17.2 19.5 24.2 29.8 31.2 31.7 
			 Van roadworthiness test 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 
			 Single vehicle approval — — — — 2.3 5.0 4.7 6.0 5.5 4.2 
			 Vehicle identity check — — — — — — — 0.8 1.4 3.1 
			 MOT Pad fee (this excludes the element of the MOT fee retained by garages) 7.1 10.0 12.4 13.5 16.9 24.1 28.8 33.1 36.0 35.4 
			 Driving licence provision 28.3 29.1 33.1 40.4 47.1 59.7 67.6 70.2 70.2 72.9 
			 Vehicle registration — — 67.7 68.6 70.5 77.9 79.0 92.6 131.3 125.0 
			 (1 )Provisional.  Notes: 1. From 1990-2000 the driving licence fee includes duplicate licence fees. 2. From 2003-04 the vehicle licence fee includes the fee for duplicate registration documents. 3. Motorcycle compulsory basic training figures for 1996-97 are estimates because fee income was not recorded separately for that year.

Network Rail

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  the relationship is between Network Rail Infrastructure Finance and Network Rail Infrastructure Limited;
	(2)  how much of the debt issuance programme of Network Rail Infrastructure Finance has been  (a) authorised and  (b) issued or drawn down;
	(3)  what the relationship is between Network Rail and Network Rail Infrastructure Finance (NRIF); whether NRIF is a subsidiary of Network Rail; and how much of NRIF is owned by Network Rail;
	(4)  what the total value is of property assets owned by Network Rail.

Derek Twigg: These questions are for Network Rail and I have asked them to reply directly to the hon. Member.

Railways

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will examine the merits of options for introducing a rail discount scheme for people without cars.

Derek Twigg: There are a number of discount schemes already offered on rail: the Young Person's, Senior, Family and Disabled railcards and, in the South East, the Network Card. There are also group travel discounts available for some journeys. There are no specific plans to examine further schemes at this stage.

Road Pricing Policies (Greater Manchester)

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has had from (a) local authorities and  (b) the passenger transport executive in Greater Manchester concerning(i) congestion charging and (ii) road pricing policies; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: In October 2005 the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority and Executive applied to the Department for Transport for Transport Innovation Fund development funding. The application was for funding to assist in the development of their corridor partnership approach and a demand management toolkit involving definition of the circumstances in which increasingly hard-edged measures, such as road pricing, will need to be deployed.
	My right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State announced on 28 November 2005,  Official Report, column 3WS, that the authorities of Greater Manchester were one of seven areas that had been awarded funding.

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bridges on the strategic road network do not meet safety standards for the level of traffic they carry; and how many would not meet the standards at projected traffic levels for  (a) 2016 and  (b) 2026 levels.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no bridges on the strategic road network, for which the Highways Agency is responsible, that do not meet safety standards for the level of traffic they carry.
	Bridges on the strategic road network are managed to safely carry loading from permissible vehicles covered by The Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 and The Road Vehicles (Authorised Weight) Regulations 1998. For a particular bridge, the traffic loading is derived by considering the effects of the most severe combination of permissible vehicles that it can accommodate. Currently, there are approximately 18 bridges on the strategic network with weight restrictions.
	A regime of regular inspections, assessments and renewals is in place to ensure that bridges continue to safely accommodate the traffic on the network.
	As there are no known proposals to increase permissible vehicle weights the traffic loading will be safe in the future.

Road Traffic Regulations

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the operation of the Road Traffic (Parking Adjudicators) (London) Regulations 1993; what recent representations he has received about the operation of these regulations; if he will place in the Library copies of such representations; and whether he has any plans  (a) to amend and  (b) to repeal these regulations.

Gillian Merron: Regulations to enact the parking provisions in part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 will go to public consultation later this year. When those regulations are enacted the Road Traffic (Parking Adjudicators) (London) Regulations 1993 will be repealed. The Department expects to receive comments on the draft new regulations following the public consultation. The Department frequently receives letters from members of the public about the parking adjudication service but have received none recently that are specifically about these regulations.

Road Use

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total combined mileage of  (a) vehicles and  (b) cars travelling on roads in the UK in each of the past 10 years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department makes estimates for Great Britain only. Estimated mileages for each year from 1995 to 2004, the latest year available, were published in the annual statistical bulletin "Road Traffic Statistics: 2004". The bulletin was published on 7 July 2005 on the DfT website and a copy placed in the House of Commons Library.

PRIME MINISTER

Energy Review

Lynne Jones: To ask the Prime Minister what account he took of the DTI Energy Review, "Our Energy Challenge—Securing clean, affordable energy for the long term", in formulating the contents of his speech to the Confederation of British Industry on16 May 2006.

Alan Duncan: To ask the Prime Minister when he received the first draft of the Energy Review; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Members to the press briefings given by my official spokesman on16 and 17 May, copies of which are available on the No. 10 website.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

UK/Venezuelan Relations

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on UK-Venezuelan relations.

Geoff Hoon: We have an active relationship with Venezuela. We work together in several areas of shared interest, including counter-narcotics and energy. We also have an important commercial relationship. Venezuela is the third biggest market for the UK in Latin America. Our policy is to maintain constructive engagement; we have much to gain from working together.

Middle East

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the middle east peace process.

Kim Howells: We welcome both Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's and Palestinian President Abbas' commitment to the Roadmap and negotiations. It is important that both sides take steps to move the peace process forward.
	We remain committed to the principles of a negotiated solution based on the relevant Security Council resolutions and international law. We continue to work towards a just, viable and lasting peace.
	The Government are extremely dismayed, however, by the recent spate of killings in what appears to be an escalating battle between Hamas and Fatah militias for control of the streets in Gaza. That kind of internecine conflict is the last thing the middle east peace process requires.

Iran

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the US about Iran.

Margaret Beckett: I discussed Iran's nuclear programme with my US, Russian, Chinese, French and German counterparts when we met in New York on 8 and 9 May. We agreed that it was essential that Iran should meet the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board and the Security Council, including fully suspending all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities. We will continue to work closely with our EU partners, the US, Russia, China and others to ensure that Iran meets its obligations.

Iran

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she had on Iran with her US and EU counterparts during her recent visit to New York.

Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Mrs Julie Morgan) today (UIN 72690).

Iran

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the steps the UK is taking to ensure Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

Margaret Beckett: The UK is working closely with international partners in multilateral fora and in ad-hoc groupings to ensure that Iran takes the steps necessary to guarantee that its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes. We continue to maintain strict national export controls in fulfilment of our obligations and commitments, including under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Palestinian Authority

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with her US counterparts on the funding of the Palestinian Authority.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised the importance of developing a temporary international funding mechanism to channel donor funds with US Secretary of State Rice on 9 May and Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick on 17 May.

Proliferation

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she had on proliferation with her UN Security Council counterparts during her recent visit to New York.

Margaret Beckett: I had no discussions on proliferation issues during my visit to New York other than those on Iran.

Arms Export Controls

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress there has been towards further arms export controls; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The Government continue to work to strengthen regulation of the arms trade and counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Key current goals are securing the launch of a UN-based process toward an international arms trade treaty, and also seeking agreement within the UN Programme of Action to establish minimum criteria for controls on the transfer of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Montenegro

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on the referendum in Montenegro on 21 May.

Geoff Hoon: The Montenegrin Referendum was discussed at the General Affairs and External Relations Council, which I attended, on 15 May.
	Following the vote on 21 May, the Head of the Referendum Commission stated at a news conference this morning that the preliminary result shows a majority in favour of independence at 55.5 per cent. with a turnout of 86.49 per cent.
	The EU has issued a declaration welcoming the conduct of the referendum.
	I issued a press statement this morning noting that the people of Montenegro have expressed a clear desire for an independent state and calling on all sides in Montenegro, and the Serbian Authorities, to work together to determine the way forward.

Karen People (Burma)

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the situation of Karen people in Burma.

Geoff Hoon: We condemn the Burmese army's attacks on civilians in Karen State, which have forced thousands to flee their homes and seek refuge on the Thai/Burmese border. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, Ian McCartney, will shortly be calling in the Burmese Ambassador to express our concern about the situation.

Palestinian Aid

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on the Palestinian people of the decision by the EU to suspend aid.

Kim Howells: The EU continues to provide aid to the Palestinian people. Following the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority's (PA) failure to commit to the three Quartet principles direct budgetary assistance to the PA has been suspended.
	The 15 May General Affairs and External Relations Council concluded that an international mechanism would be urgently established to direct delivery and supervise assistance to the Palestinian people.

EU Constitution

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on progress made on the EU constitution.

Geoff Hoon: Following the rejection of the Treaty in the Dutch and French referendums, the European Council agreed on a period of reflection to consider the way forward. The European Council will come back to the matter this June. We will participate constructively in these discussions.

Darfur

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the peace process in Darfur.

Kim Howells: We welcome the signature of the Darfur Peace Agreement by the Government of Sudan and the largest rebel faction. This followed intense efforts by the UK and others to agree a deal. We call on those parties who have signed the agreement to begin implementation immediately; and on those who have not to join the agreement and help rebuild peace in Darfur.

BBC World Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many hours a week was broadcast by the BBC World Service to  (a) Bhutan and  (b) Nepal in (i) television and (ii) radio format in the last year for which figures are available.

Ian McCartney: There is no dedicated service to Bhutan. But SW transmissions of the Bengali, Nepalese and English services are audible there. The dedicated Nepalese service is delivered on SW and FM. FM transmissions were adversely affected by recent political events. These should return to normal soon. SW transmissions in English and Hindi can also be heard in Nepal. Details are:
	Bhutan English (115.5 hours per week), Bengali (10.5 hours per week), Nepalese (3.5 hours per week)
	Nepal English (129.5 hours per week), Nepalese (3.5 hours per week), Hindi (17.5 hours per week)
	From March to end September 2005, the Nepalese Service also broadcast an additional 15 minutes daily but this was discontinued in October. The World Service does not broadcast via television.

Children's Services

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many nursery and creche places are provided for people working in her Department; what charges are made for the provision of such services; and what other facilities are provided for children of employees of her Department.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) runs two in-house nurseries in London and Hanslope Park, with a total of 67 places.
	The London nursery, managed by Bright Horizons, has 36 places for children from six months to five years. Fees are subsidised and are charged according to grades, ranging from 23 to 34 per day. The Hanslope Park nursery is run by a management committee comprising of volunteer FCO staff and has a capacity of 31 places for children from three months to five years. Fees are 115 per week for children under two and 104 for children two and over. The fees are used to pay staff wages. Services such as water, heat, power etc. are subsidised by the FCO at a cost of 115 per week.
	Five subsidised places were offered at Buffer Bear nurseries in commuter areas but because of the low take up of places this contract is not being renewed from end April 2006.
	The FCO pay a 50 per cent. subsidy for places used by schoolchildren of FCO staff at the Westminster Play Scheme, which runs during normal school holidays.
	We have also introduced from 1 April 2006 salary sacrifice arrangements enabling staff to purchase child care vouchers at a discount.

China

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps her Department is taking to encourage China to improve its human rights record following its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Ian McCartney: We continue to raise human rights concerns regularly with the Chinese Government, through ministerial contact, the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue and EU mechanisms. We will expect every member of the Human Rights Council, including China, to co-operate fully with the council and take very seriously the responsibility that they will have for the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.

Diego Garcia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the US Administration on its lease of Diego Garcia; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary of State has not had recent discussions with the US Administration on the international agreement entered into by the UK and the US in 1966. There is no lease.
	The 1966 Exchange of Notes between the Government and the Government of the United States provides that the islands of the British Indian Ocean Territories, including Diego Garcia, shall be available to meet the defence needs of both Governments for an initial period of 50 years, i.e. until 2016, and continuing thereafter for a further period of 20 years unless terminated by either Government at the end of the initial period.

European Court of Human Rights

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she is making to the European Court of Human Rights for the removal of the language barriers highlighted in the recent Woolf Report on the working practices of that institution.

Geoff Hoon: The noble and learned Lord Woolf's report was a UK initiative, funded and supported by the Government. UK officials regularly raise the importance of implementing the recommendations in Lord Woolf's report, including those on language barriers, with the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe.
	My right hon. Friend the former Foreign Secretary (Mr. Straw) did not make representations on the report. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, represented the UK at the Council of Europe Ministerial on 19 May. She raised Lord Woolf's Report during her intervention, stressing that the UK supported its recommendations.

Leased Land

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what  (a) land and  (b) property her Department (i) leases and (ii) leased in (A) 1979, (B) 1983, (C) 1987, (D) 1992 and (E) 1997 in (1) the Southend West constituency, (2) Essex, (3) Hertfordshire and (4) the Metropolitan Police area of London.

Margaret Beckett: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is not leasing nor has leased in the years requested any land or property in the hon. Member's Southend West constituency, Essex or Hertfordshire.
	The FCO is not leasing nor has leased in the years requested any sites or undeveloped land in the Metropolitan Police area of London, but currently leases property in that area as follows: 1 Carlton Gardens, 89 Albert Embankment (one floor of 15,000 square feet) and Lancaster House.
	The FCO assumed, from the former Department of the Environment, responsibility for acquiring and holding its own premises in the UK only from 1 April 1996. In 1997 we leased in, the Metropolitan Police area of London, 1 Carlton Gardens and Lancaster House, and also office space at Cromwell House, Dean Stanley Street, 20 Victoria Street, 24 Whitehall, 10 Carlton House Terrace, 4 Central Buildings, Matthew Parker Street, 8 Cleveland Row, St James' and 1 Palace Street.

Ministerial Support Unit

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the  (a) cost-effectiveness of the Ministerial Support Unit and  (b) its impact on the morale of staff in her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The Ministerial Support Unit (MSU) was reviewed earlier this year. We concluded that further small changes were needed to its structure and responsibilitiesin particular in the area of ministerial travel. These changes are now being implemented and we will review the overall impact of the MSU, including its cost-effectiveness, at the end of the financial year. Creating the MSU has caused some short-term disruption to the staff directly affected. But there is no evidence of a wider impact on morale in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Recruitment

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies spent on recruitment, search and selection agencies in each of the last five years.

Margaret Beckett: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paid the following total amounts to recruitment, search and selection agencies in the last five years:
	
		
			
			 2001-02 2,467,854.61 
			 2002-03 2,484,105.83 
			 2003-04 1,786,178.41 
			 2004-05 670,488.95 
			 2005-06 1,075,081.27 
		
	
	The FCO has responsibility for one Executive agency, Wilton Park. It made no payment to recruitment, search and selection agencies in any of the last five years.
	The FCO uses the services of recruitment agencies for volume, specialist and senior appointments. Volume recruitment is handled under contract by Capita Resourcing. For specialist slots, we use the Cabinet Office's call-off contract to select agencies to handle positions which require specific skills. This contract is also used for senior appointments.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Consumer Advice

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to introduce a consumer advice handbook.

Ian McCartney: DTI currently has no plans to develop or introduce a consumer advice handbook. However the introduction of Consumer Direct, a national telephone and online consumer advice service, has considerably raised the profile of consumer advice. By the end of June 2006, with the launch of the last three contact centres, Consumer Direct will be a fully national service providing a single national phone number that makes it easier than ever for consumers to get the advice and information they need.
	The service is very popular and currently receives around 25,000 calls per week across England, Scotland and Wales. A recent customer satisfaction survey reported that 87 per cent. of callers were satisfied and eight out of 10 callers feel that they now have the confidence to deal with similar problems should they occur in future.
	We are also funding a 45 million, two-year programme to provide face-to-face debut advice. About 16 million will go to citizens advice projects,7 million to other voluntary sector advice agencies and the remaining 22 million to partnership projects involving both Citizens Advice and other advice agencies. The funds will pay for 500 new advisers who will help tens of thousands of families to tackle debt.

Copyright

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what recent guidance his Department has issued to  (a) internet service providers,  (b) telecommunication companies and  (c) electronic hardware companies on discouraging the illegal use of (i) music and (ii) other creative content online;
	(2)  what measures the Government are takingto encourage  (a) internet service providers,  (b) telecommunications companies and  (c) electronic hardware companies to promote responsible copyright awareness programmes to consumers.

Ian McCartney: Although the IT and telecommunications sectors are not specifically being targeted, the Patent Office, as the DTI agency responsible for IP, is continuing to work with a range of partners to deliver a programme of IP awareness raising among all sectors of business. This builds on the success last year of the 'What is the key?' initiative, and includes responsible use of other people's intellectual property, as embodied by the CREATE principles. These principles were developed and endorsed by the Creative Industries IP Forum, which was chaired by Lord Sainsbury and the then Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism.

East Midlands Development Agency

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cross-council meetings have been organised by the East Midlands Development Agency in 2005; and how many such meetings have been attended by  (a) Bassetlaw and  (b) Mansfield council.

Margaret Hodge: East Midlands Development Agency ('emda') does not organise specific cross-council meetings, but does work closely with a wide range of local authorities (counties, unitaries and districts) within the region on specific issues. Meetings are set up as and when they are needed and many involve wider partnerships, often including more than one local authority, 'emda' also works through existing groupings such as local government association where appropriate. During 2005 these meetings covered all aspects of the agency's agenda, including formal groups to consider issues such as Urban Policy and Rural Action Zones and ad-hoc meetings to cover specific issues (for example planning issues associated with major projects), 'emda' also consulted all local authorities on their strategy development, in particular related to the current revision of the Regional Economic Strategy, and invited councils to events such as their annual public meeting. Bassetlaw district council has attended two such events and Mansfield district council four events.

Energy Review

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library a copy of the first draft of the Energy Review.

Alistair Darling: There is no written first cut of the Energy Review. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was briefed by Ministers on 15 May onthe findings thus far and the analysis of the scale of the energy challenge. Information highlighting some of the key findings are available on the No. 10 website at http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/page9469.asp The review will be published in the summer.

Imperial Measures

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether there are plans to introduce EU legislation which would prevent the use of certain imperial measures in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Current legislation permits the continued use of imperial units in certain contexts, including the use of imperial units as supplementary indications accompanying indications given in authorised (metric) units. The Government have no present plans for new legislation in this area. The permission for the use of imperial units as supplementary indications at present expires on 31 December 2009. However, the European Commission is, as provided for in directive 80/18 I/EC as amended, examining the working of that directive with particular reference to supplementary indications. The Government expects that the Commission will propose at least an extension of the permission for use of supplementary indications. The Government will consult widely on whatever proposals may be made by the Commission.

Income/Debt Statistics

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies he has commissioned to investigate the link between over-indebtedness and  (a) income level,  (b) unemployment and  (c) educational achievement levels; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: In 2004 the DTI commissioned MORI to complete a survey on over-indebtedness and its link to income levels, unemployment and social group (Over-indebtedness in Britain: a DTI report on the MORI Financial Services survey 2004 http://www.cst.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/pdfl/debtdtionmori.pdf).
	This followed a similar piece of work commissioned by the DTI in 2002 when Elaine Kempson of Bristol university carried out research into the links between over-indebtedness and income and unemployment.
	In terms of a link between income and the likelihood of over-indebtedness, the survey concluded that those earning less than 9,500 a year were more likely to be over-indebted. On the issue of a link between unemployment and over-indebtedness the results were less clear, although it was noted that unemployed individuals are more likely to find keeping up with bills and credit commitments a 'heavy burden', as well as being more likely to have been in arrears on credit commitments for more than three months.
	The Wealth and Assets Survey that is due to enter the field in summer 2006 will provide a much more detailed assessment of over-indebtedness and its links to income, assets such as houses and savings, employment and the educational background of survey participants. The survey is to be carried out over a substantial time period, taking multiple assessments of the participants over the period in order to map changes between areas such as employment, income and assets.

Insolvency Act

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many declared bankruptcies there were under the Insolvency Act 1986 in each of the last 10 years.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The following table shows the number of bankruptcies in the last 10 years in England and Wales:
	
		
			   Bankruptcy orders 
			 1996 21,803 
			 1997 19,892 
			 1998 19,647 
			 1999 21,611 
			 2000 21,550 
			 2001 23,477 
			 2002 24,292 
			 2003 28,021 
			 2004 35,898 
			 2005 47,291

Insolvency Act

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many appeals against insolvency declarations under the Insolvency Act 1996 there were in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The table shows the number of bankruptcy orders made against individuals that have been annulled in the last 10 years on the ground that the order ought not to have been made, and the number of winding-up orders made against companies that have been rescinded over the same period:
	
		
			  Number 
			   Annulment order  Rescission order 
			 1996 21 127 
			 1997 91 94 
			 1998 141 73 
			 1999 236 69 
			 2000 415 178 
			 2001 438 220 
			 2002 339 130 
			 2003 419 171 
			 2004 399 122 
			 2005 376 140

Insolvency Service

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people have been employed in the Office of the Official Receiver in the Insolvency Service in each year since 1989; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The total number of staff employed (full-time equivalent) in Official Receives' offices at the end of each year since 2003 is as follows:
	
		
			  Year ending March  Number 
			 2003 1,058.14 
			 2004 1,126.99 
			 2005 1,180.65 
			 2006 1,377.04 
			  Notes: 1. These figures include permanent and casual staff, but do not include short-term appointees or agency staff. 2. The numbers of staff employed by The Insolvency Service in earlier years are published in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts.

Israel/UK Trade

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many officials in his Department are employed to increase trade between Israel and the United Kingdom; at what grade; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: The commercial team in the British embassy in Tel Aviv comprises one UK-based D6 Head of Section and six local Israeli staff. In addition, UK Trade  Investment employs one Range 8 and one Range 6 officer in London, focused primarily on boosting trade and investment links with Israel, as well as more senior staff who have wider geographical responsibilities, which include Israel.

Ministerial Visits

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last visited the state of Israel; what was discussed; when he next plans to visit the state of Israel; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Israel, but hope to be able to do so during my time as Minister for Trade.

Nuclear Power

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will conduct an assessment of the lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions of nuclear power.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department is aware of a number of studies estimating the total life-cycle emissions and carbon costs of nuclear power.
	In November 2005 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that there would be a review of energy policy which would report in summer 2006. This will take account of external assessments of the total life-cycle carbon costs of nuclear power.

Offshore Petroleum Licensing

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what applications have been made in the 24(th) round of offshore petroleum licensing for production consents for field developments in the Cardigan Bay area;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 12 May 2006,  Official Report, column 540W, on offshore petroleum licensing, when he expects to complete the Appropriate Assessment of potential impacts on the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation in the 24(th) Licence Round;
	(3)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 13 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 91-92WS, on offshore petroleum licensing, whether any of the 50 blocks that will not be offered for licensing at the request of the Ministry of Defence are in the Cardigan Bay area.

Malcolm Wicks: No 24(th) Round applications have been made, but the Round is open until 16 June. We will then consider whether or not to make licence awards. Drilling and production consents are not part of the licence award and have to be sought separately from my Department at a later stage and are subject to further environmental scrutiny.
	It is not possible to give an exact date when the Appropriate Assessment will be concluded but it will be before any 24(th) Round licences are granted. This Assessment will cover all 24(th) Round acreage on offer, including those blocks in the Cardigan Bay area. We anticipate being able to award licences by the autumn.
	Of the 50 blocks withheld from licensing at the request of the Ministry of Defence, none are in the Cardigan Bay area.

Pipe Organs

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent progress has been made in developing a formal application for the total exemption of the manufacture of new pipe organs from the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The Department has been working with the pipe organ industry for some time and will continue to do so in order to secure a favourable outcome on this issue.
	The UK Government do not consider that pipe organs should fall within the scope of this directive, a view widely accepted across Europe. The DTI is working closely with the European Commission and other EU member states to obtain agreement at a European level without the need for a formal exemption. Our aim is to reach a successful conclusion before the directive comes into force on 1 July.

Post Office Closures

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices have closed in Suffolk in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Information relating to post office branches for each parliamentary constituency is placed in the Libraries of the House on an annual basis. I have, however, asked Alan Cook, the managing director of Post Office Ltd., to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member as the question relates to operational matters for which the company is directly responsible.

Sunday Working

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has undertaken on the impact of Sunday working on individuals working in the  (a) food and  (b) retail industry.

Ian McCartney: From 13 January to 14 April we asked for views on all aspects of extending Sunday shop opening hours. We are currently analysing the large number of responses we received. We intend to publish a summary of the responses on the DTI website (www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/Sunday%20 Shopping) within three months of the close of this consultation.
	In addition we appointed Indepen Consulting Ltd. to produce an economic cost benefit analysis of easing the restrictions on Sunday shopping. We published Indepen's report on 5 May on the DTI website. Indepen's report includes some analysis of the impact on employment if large shops were allowed to open for longer on Sunday.

Sunday Working

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of Sunday trading hours on employees who also have caring responsibilities;
	(2)  what assessment he has carried out to determine the impact of extending Sunday opening hours on children and families.

Ian McCartney: From 13 January to 14 April we asked for views on all aspects of extending Sunday shop opening hours. We are currently analysing the large number of responses we received. We intend to publish a summary of the responses on the DTI website (www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/Sunday%20Shopping) within three months of the close of this consultation.

Sunday Working

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research has been undertaken to examine the implications of extending Sunday opening hours; and what the terms of reference were for this research.

Ian McCartney: The DTI appointed Indepen Consulting Ltd. to produce an economic cost benefit analysis of easing the restrictions on Sunday shopping. We published Indepen's report on 5 May on the DTI website:
	www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/Sunday%20Shopping
	The terms of reference for this analysis are included as an annex in the report.
	From 13 January to 14 April we asked for views and evidence on all aspects of extending Sunday shop opening hours. We are currently analysing the large number of responses we received. We intend to publish a summary of the responses on the DTI website within three months of the close of this consultation.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the available infrastructure capacity in the UK to handle waste in accordance with the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive.

Malcolm Wicks: Successful implementation of the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive will require appropriate infrastructure capacity to be in place at various points along the waste management chain. Delivery of this infrastructure is necessarily driven by market forces. The role of Government is to ensure that this market can operate properly by providing certainty about the regulatory environment. The Government are committed to implementing the WEEE directive as quickly as possible in consultation with stakeholders. The Department will issue a consultation paper and timetable for implementation before the summer recess.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date the Arts Council was first informed that the West Bromwich arts organisation, The Public, was likely to exceed the projected costs of constructing its new building; and what steps  (a) the Arts Council and  (b) her Department subsequently took.

David Lammy: The Public informed Arts Council England that it was likely to breach its funding envelope in a report to the organisation on 31 January 2006.
	The Arts Council consequently commissioned a stocktake report and options appraisal, and the funders agreed upon one of the recommended options and to make short-term cash-flow funds available. However, in spite of close working between all stakeholders, the Board of The Public acted on legal advice and registered for insolvency on 3 March 2006. The Arts Council has since assembled a client handling team and has been working with other funders and the administrators to make progress on completion of the building project and a sustainable business plan for The Public.
	My Department have been kept informed of the situation while respecting the arms length principle. The Government Office for the West Midlands has attended regular stakeholder meetings with funders and the administrators. A meeting took place on 27 March between myself, the Member for West Bromwich, East (Tom Watson) and representatives from the Arts Council to discuss the situation at The Public.

BBC Licence Fee

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to announce the new BBC licence fee settlement.

Shaun Woodward: The Government are currently conducting a funding review to determine the level of the licence fee to apply from April 2007. An announcement will be made in due course.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 23 January about the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willets)(ref 34665 and 39899); for what reasons there has been a delay in replying; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: I apologise for the delay in responding to the correspondence from the hon. Member. I hope to provide you with a response shortly.

Internet Gambling

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what research she has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the addictiveness of internet poker;
	(2)  what regulations govern the operation of internet poker;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the extent of misuse of credit and debit cards by underage people in relation to internet gambling services;
	(4)  pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2006,  Official Report, column 1234W, if she will commission research to establish the prevalence of problem gambling on the internet by  (a) under and  (b) over 18-year-olds.

Richard Caborn: Under existing legislation it is illegal to operate remote gaming, including internet poker, from Great Britain. There are therefore no such sites currently based in this country. The Gambling Act, when fully implemented in September 2007, will enable remote gaming to be licensed and regulated in Britain. The Gambling Commission's programme of consultation on its new regulatory regime is currently under way.
	In addition to the updated National Lottery Commission research referred to in my previous answer, the Gambling Commission's first prevalence study, which is currently under way, will look at the prevalence of problem gambling in those aged 16-years-old and over, across all gambling activities. My Department is now considering what additional research should be commissioned in this area.

Licensing Act/Gambling Act

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of  (a) the Licensing Act 2003 and  (b) the Gambling Act 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Government believe it is too early to make any firm assessment about the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 either across the country or in any one area. It is, however, reassured by many positive examples which indicate an improving situation through better regulation, improved partnership working, targeted enforcement by police and local authorities, and proper engagement by all stakeholders.
	The Government will continue to monitor the impact of the new legislation closely on a range on initiatives, including a programme of evaluation being conducted by the Home Office into the impact of the licensing reforms on crime and disorder.
	A regulatory impact assessment of the Gambling Act 2005 was published on 21 April 2005. We are currently working through the programme of secondary legislation needed to implement the Act, in order that the process of implementation will be complete in September 2007. An assessment of the impact of the Act will be made after this process has been completed.

London Olympics

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games's legal contract with the International Olympic Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games permits betting on individual sporting events.

Richard Caborn: Presently, British betting operators are permitted to take bets on a range of sporting events including the Olympic Games. We have no plans to legislate otherwise. LOCOG is aware of the existing legal position relating to betting in Great Britain.

London Olympics

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which organisation has formal responsibility for ensuring a lasting legacy of increased sporting participation following the 2012 Olympic games; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Olympic Board has overall responsibility for ensuring that the social, economic and sporting benefits from 2012 are maximised. The board have agreed that the Greater London Authority, the British Olympic Association and Government will work together to ensure that there is lasting legacy of increased sporting participation in London, and the wider UK, as a result of the 2012 games.

London Olympics

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding within the World Class Pathway Summer Olympic Investment 2006-09 is earmarked for  (a) the English Institute of Sport,  (b) the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme and  (c) TASS 2012 scholarships, broken down by sport in each case.

Richard Caborn: UK Sport will be allocating 9 million per annum to the English Institute of Sport (EIS) through its World Class Pathway programme for the benefit of summer Olympic sports over the period 2006-09. UK Sport is currently in discussion with the EIS and the Summer Olympic sports to determine an appropriate level of funding on a sport by sport basis over this period.
	The Department has confirmed funding for both TASS and TASS 2012 Scholarships up to the end of the 2007-08 financial year. UK Sport has been allocated 3 million and 1 million per annum to TASS and TASS 2012 Scholarships respectively to cover the costs of sporting services provided to athletes. An additional 1 million per annum has been allocated to cover specific additional athlete support, such as medical support, the TASS Hardship Fund, institutional staff training, educational review (2012 athletes), attendance at the World University Games, as well as the schemes administration costs.
	National Governing Bodies of sport have been invited to put forward their athlete nominations for this academic year, 1 August to 31 July, for consideration by UK Sport and the TASS National Manager. Until this process is complete we are not in a position to confirm the funding allocation to each sport with regard to TASS and TASS 2012 Scholarships.

London Olympics

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what public funding has been made available to people with physical and learning difficulties to train and equip themselves for the Olympics in  (a) 2012 and  (b) 2008; and how many individuals have received such funding, broken down by sport.

Richard Caborn: Athletes with a learning disability are currently ineligible under the International Paralympic Committee rules, from competing in the Paralympics and as a result UK Sport does not provide funding support to athletes with this disability.
	UK Sport has allocated 19.1 million to assist athletes with a physical disability to train and compete at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. The funding allocation to support disabled athletes beyond this period will be determined following a review of athlete performance at Beijing.
	The number of athletes with a disability currently benefiting from the funding made available by UK Sport for the Beijing cycle is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Total 
			 Archery 10 
			 Boccia 5 
			 Cycling 6 
			 Disability Athletics 23 
			 Disability Fencing 1 
			 Disability Swimming 24 
			 Disability Table Tennis 9 
			 Disability Tennis 3 
			 Equestrian 8 
			 Judo 3 
			 Powerlifting 4 
			 Rowing 6 
			 Sailing 6 
			 Shooting 3 
			 Wheelchair Basketball 12 
			 Wheelchair Rugby 17 
			 Total 140

London Olympics

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what is the average funding allocated to  (a) a person with a physical or learning disability and  (b) a person with no disability in preparation for the Olympic Games in (i) 2008 and (ii) 2012.

Richard Caborn: UK Sport supports our very best athletes indirectly through funding support to the national governing bodies of sport and directly through Athlete Personal Awards (APA). The APAs are available to able bodied and disabled athletes, are paid directly to the athlete and are a contribution to their sporting and living costs.
	The level of award is dependent upon whether the athlete qualifies for category A, B or C. funding. The category of award into which an athlete falls is based upon a number of criteria, including the most recent performance in major international competitions as well as their ability to deliver medal success at a future Olympics /Paralympics. The level of APA that an athlete is entitled to receive is the same, irrespective of whether they are a disabled or able-bodied athlete.
	For both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the annual APAs are currently set at the following levelsA Category athletes 23,930, B Category athletes 17,948 and C Category athletes 11,965.

Millennium Stadium

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on crowd crushes due to the collapse of safety rails outside the Cardiff Millennium Stadium on 13 May 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: I have received no representations about crowd crushes outside the Millennium Stadium on 13 May 2006. However, my officials have been informed by the Football Licensing authority that the incident which took place before kick-off was not caused by the failure of safety railings. Rather, the cause, as recorded in the formal report by the FLA officer in attendance, was the attempt by a large number of fans to rush the turnstiles at gate 2, as a result of which, three spectators are reported to have required treatment for injuries.
	The local authority will review the matter at the next safety advisory group to ensure that this will be figured into future arrangements for events at the stadium.

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisers in her Department have stayed overnight in (i) five star, (ii) four star and (iii) three star hotels in each of the last three years.

David Lammy: An analysis by type of expenditure on travel and subsistence including hotel star rating is not recorded on the Department's accounting system and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. In general, choice of hotels is influenced by cost rather than star rating.

Problem Gamblers (Tamworth)

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 9 May 2006,  Official Report, column 183W, to the hon. Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins), on problem gamblers (Tamworth), whether this figure is intended as the baseline figure against which the impact of problem gambling will be assessed.

Richard Caborn: I can confirm that the figure of 0.06 per cent. will be used as the baseline figure against which the impact of problem gambling will be assessed.

Royal Parks

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has had with the Royal Parks Agency concerning the provision of motor cycle parking spaces within the Royal Parks; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: DCMS has had no discussions with The Royal Parks Agency about the provision of motorcycle parking spaces within the Royal Parks. Motorcycles are already able to park wherever there is visitor parking provision in the Royal Parks. And in those parks which operate a pay and display system motorcycles are exempt from the charges. There are no plans to increase overall parking provision in the Royal Parks.

Sports Funding

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been distributed to sport from the national lottery in each year since 1997; and through which bodies it has been distributed.

Richard Caborn: To pay Lottery grants and meet administrative costs, the five sports lottery distributors have drawn down the following amounts in each financial year:
	
		
			   Amount ( million) 
			 1997-98 188.3 
			 1998-99 397.4 
			 1999-2000 316.7 
			 2000-01 292.5 
			 2001-02 359.2 
			 2002-03 377.5 
			 2003-04 315.5 
			 2004-05 241.6 
			 2005-06 264.0 
		
	
	The five bodies are Sport England, SportScotland, Sports Council for Wales, Sports Council for Northern Ireland and UK Sport.
	Other lottery distributors have made grants that have directly or indirectly benefited sport, for example money to a village hall that has enabled people to play indoor football.

Sports Funding

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Big Lottery Fund plans to give to sport in the period 2006 to 2009.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The Big Lottery Fund is the operating name of the National Lottery Charities Board and the New Opportunities Fund, working jointly together.
	The Big Lottery Fund has committed 19 million to the School Sports Co-ordinator programme in England over the period 2006 to 2009. A further 438 million will be spent on sport-related activities across the UK from the fund's legacy programmes over this period. In addition, the fund has said it is likely to provide funding to sport-related projects under a number of its new programmes.

Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding is available to  (a) the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) and  (b) TASS 2012 Scholarship in each year to 2012; and how much of that funding will be allocated to (i) summer Olympic sports, (ii) winter Olympic sports, (iii) non-Olympic sports, broken down by sport and (iv) paralympic sport.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 18 May 2006
	The Department has confirmed funding for both TASS and TASS 2012 Scholarships up to the end of the 2007-08 financial year. Funding details beyond this period is therefore not available.
	The annual allocation of funding up to the end of 2007-08 is 5 million, with 3 million and 1 million allocated to TASS and TASS 2012 Scholarships respectively to cover the costs of sporting services provided to athletes. The remaining funding will cover specific additional athlete support, such as medical support, the TASS Hardship Fund, institutional staff training, educational review (2012 athletes), attendance at the World University Games, as well as the schemes administration costs.
	While the funding of TASS and TASS 2012 is based on a financial year, the athlete awards are made annually and run from 1 August to the 31 July. National Governing Bodies have been invited to put forward their athlete nominations for this year for consideration by UK Sport and the TASS National Manager. Until this process is complete we are not in a position to confirm the funding allocation across the sports requested.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether it is her policy that only timber products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council will be used for the 2012 Olympics.

Richard Caborn: The Government are committed to ensuring that we deliver not only the most successful Games, but also that they are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. Environmental principles have been taken into account from the very earliest stages, influencing every aspect of planning for the Games and their legacy. The Candidate File, which set out the policy for the Olympic Games, states that the London Organising Committee's sustainability management system will ensure that environmental and sustainability criteria are taken into account in planning, tendering and procurement decisions, including support for independent certification of products, such as Forestry Stewardship Council timber.

Water Sports

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to promote water sports.

Richard Caborn: We are committed to encouraging more people to participate in water sports.
	Sport England has so far awarded 367 million of Lottery funding to 538 water sports projects around the country.
	The National School Sport Strategy has enabled further financial support for water sports through its Club Links workstrand. This workstrand aims to strengthen links between schools and local sports clubs and by doing so increase the number of children who are members of accredited sports clubs. In 2006-07, funding has been awarded through Club Links as follows:
	
		
			
			 Swimming 352,000 
			 Sailing 97,500 
			 Rowing 97,500 
			 Canoeing 97,500 
		
	
	Funding has also been made available for water sports through the Step into Sport programme, which is part of the National School Sport Strategy. The programme provides a simple framework of opportunities at a local level to enable young people to experience sports leadership and volunteering. In 2006-07, funding has been awarded to the following National Governing Bodies of sport through the Step into Sport programme:
	
		
			
			 Swimming 20,000 
			 Sailing 20,000 
			 Rowing 20,000

Water Sports

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what publicly-funded resources are available for people with physical disabilities to train in water sports; and where these facilities are located.

Richard Caborn: Sport England has awarded 367 million of lottery funding to 538 water sports projects around the country. Although it is not possible to assess which of these projects specifically target people with physical disabilities, any project receiving lottery funding would be expected to provide opportunities for all members of society, including disabled people.

TREASURY

Departmental Expenditure

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from his Department in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The entities which received the largest total payments for each of the four financial years from 2002-03 to 2005-06 inclusive are as follows:
	
		
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Carlson Wagonlit Travel UK Ltd  Yes   
			 Centerprise International Ltd Yes
			 Chessington Computer Services Ltd Yes Yes   
			 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association  Yes Yes Yes 
			 Computacenter (UK) Ltd Yes  Yes Yes 
			 European Broadcasting UnionYes 
			 Exchequer Partnership plc Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Inter Parliamentary Union  Yes   
			 Jack Morton Worldwide LimitedYes 
			 Natwesl Bank plc Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Oracle Yes
			 Partnerships UK plc Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Paymaster (1836) Ltd  Yes Yes  
			 Pitney Bowes Management Services Ltd   Yes  
			 Royal Bank of Scotland   Yes Yes 
			 Robson Associates Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Royal  Sun Alliance Yes
			 Stationery Office Yes Yes Yes  
			 UBS AG BankYes 
		
	
	An equivalent list for 2001-02 could be provided only at disproportionate cost because of a change in accounting system in 2002-03. The lists cover payments made by the Treasury on behalf of the Treasury and the Debt Management Office, who operate a combined supplier payments system.
	It has been drawn to my attention by Treasury officials that there was a mistake in the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) on 15 May 2006,  Official Report, column 709W, on the matter of consultancy fees paid by the Treasury in 2005-06. Some of the figures in the table accompanying my answer were understated because of a fault in the software programme that was used to extract them. A corrected table has been placed in the Library of the House. I very much regret this inadvertent error.

HM Revenue and Customs

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times the HM Revenue and Customs website was  (a) overloaded,  (b) off-line,  (c) slowed up through demand and  (d) unable to offer complete access in each of the last 24 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not readily available in the format or for the whole period requested. However HMRC's website has remained available to users continuously since October 2005.
	From time to time however, certain online functions or pages of information and guidance within the website are withdrawn to enable maintenance, upgrades or updating of content.
	At particularly busy periodse.g. around filing datesusers of the website may occasionally experience access difficulties or slow running. On these occasions users will be advised to try again later. Users may also experience problems at other times for a variety of reasons outside of HMRC's direct control includingfor examplethe type of connection and equipment they are using and the speed and capacity of third parties' communications infrastructure.

Home Computer Initiative

Peter Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 3 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1718-21W, on the Home Computer Initiative, if he will give further consideration to the questions asked by hon. Members to satisfy himself that all the questions asked received substantive responses in the answer provided.

Dawn Primarolo: My reply of 16 May 2006 to the hon. Member's further question,  Official Report, columns 830-31W, explained that my answer of 3 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1718-21W, was designed to enable a full, substantive statement on the Home Computer Initiative to be made to the House. That remains the position.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

John Healey: The information is as follows.
	
		
			  Annual spend on IT 
			   000 
			 2002-03 5,300 
			 2003-04 2,823 
			 2004-05 4,281 
			 2005-06 3,087 
		
	
	Information on 2001-02 is not readily available and providing it would incur disproportionate costs.
	Projects are the responsibility of the appointed project/programme managers. Depending on the scale of the project, project managers are expected to have increasingly formal training and background in project management. The current head of technical infrastructure came with a background in MOD procurement and has Prince2 and British Computer Society project management qualifications.

National Insurance Contributions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of changing the lower earnings limit on national insurance contributions (NICs) to the equivalent of 7,500 per annum for  (a) class 1 NICs,  (b) class 2 NICs,  (c) class 3 NICs and  (d) class 4 NICs while simultaneously raising the upper earnings limit to the equivalent of 50,000 per annum.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 16 May 2006
	Raising the Lower earnings limit (LEL) would have the effect of removing employees whose earnings are between the current LEL and the new higher LEL from entitlement to contributory national insurance benefits.
	Leaving the LEL unchanged but raising the earnings threshold at which class 1 national insurance contributions are payable by employees and employers to 7,500 a year, and raising the upper earnings limit to 50,000 a year, would lower national insurance contributions for 2006-07 by around 8 billion. This figure comprises 1.6 billion of primary contributions paid by employees, and 6.4 billion of secondary contributions paid by employers.
	Raising the lower and upper profits limits for class 4 national insurance contributions paid by the self-employed to 7,500 and 50,000 respectively would lower national insurance contributions in respect of 2006-07 by around 80 million.
	Class 2 national insurance contributions are flat-rate payments payable by all self-employed people unless they apply for a 'small earnings exception' if their earnings from self-employment are expected to be low (below 4,465 for 2006-07). In order to preserve entitlement to benefits the self-employed with low earnings may choose to pay class 2 contributions voluntarily.
	Class 3 contributions are voluntary flat-rate payments and are paid by people whose contribution record would otherwise be insufficient to enable them to qualify for retirement pension and bereavement benefits.
	The above estimates do not take any account of rebate payments in respect of contracting out, nor of increased payments of state second pension in the longer term for those not contracted out.
	The figures also exclude any estimate of behavioural response, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.

Parliamentary Questions

David Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to Question 42761, tabled by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds on 11 January 2006, on tax credit fraud.

Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.

Pensions

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guarantees the Government have given to private sector companies in respect of their pension liabilities.

Edward Balls: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer which my hon. Friend the former Economic Secretary (Mr. Lewis) gave the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson) on 3 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1723-24W.

Public Sector Accounting Units

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many accounting units are responsible for reporting to the Treasury across the public sector; if he will name the official concerned in each case; and what the professional accountancy qualifications are of each.

Stephen Timms: Information relating to accounting units is available in the Treasury publication of December 2005, Delivering the Benefits of Accruals Accounting for the Whole Public Sector. The names of the officials concerned and their qualifications are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Stamp Duty

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of properties in England and Wales on which stamp duty was levied at a rate of one per cent. sold at between 60,000 and 120,000 in 2004.

Edward Balls: The number of residential transactions in England and Wales in 2004, costing between 60,001 and 120,000, on which one per cent. stamp duty was paid, is estimated to be 300,000. An additional 90,000 transactions were exempt from stamp duty as they took place in designated disadvantaged areas.

Stamp Duty

Kitty Ussher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many properties sold in England and Wales attracted stamp duty in each year since 2000; and what proportion this number represented of  (a) all properties in England and Wales and  (b) the owner-occupier sector in each year.

Edward Balls: The following table gives the numbers and proportion of property transactions above the stamp duty threshold in England and Wales in each year since 2000. Figures for 2005 will be published in June 2006.
	
		
			   Number of property transactions above lowest stamp duty threshold (Thousands)  As proportion of total transactions (Percentage) 
			 2000 791 55 
			 2001 913 63 
			 2002 1,049 66 
			 2003 975 73 
			 2004 1,299 73 
		
	
	The numbers paying stamp duty will be lower due to the use of various reliefs for example disadvantaged area relief and group relief, registered social landlord relief. It is not possible to separately identify properties purchased by owner occupiers.

Stamp Duty

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue has been raised from stamp duty on property transactions in each year since 2000.

Edward Balls: Stamp duty revenue on property transactions for each financial year is available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/stamp_duty/15_1_sep05.xls

Tax Credits

David Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of tax credit fraud have been detected in each of the last six years; and how many resulted in successful prosecutions.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 26 January 2006,  Official Report, column 2379W.
	HMRC is planning to provide more comprehensive information on the level of claimant error and fraud.

Tax Credits

Jim Devine: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people in Livingston received overpayments of  (a) child tax credit and  (b) working tax credit in 2005;
	(2)  how many people in Livingston received  (a) child tax credit and  (b) working tax credit in 2005.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates for 2004-05 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments and underpayments, by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2004-05 are due to be published on 31 May 2006.
	We do not produce statistics separately for child and working tax credits.

Tax Credits

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in ensuring that the most recently produced standard tax credit letters and forms are available in Welsh.

Dawn Primarolo: With the exception of the tax credits award notice and renewals pack, HMRC currently provide Welsh language versions of all standard tax credits letters and forms, including the claim pack.
	More information is available on the internet at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/cymraeg/index.htm.
	HMRC continues to explore the practicality of providing tax credit notices and renewals packs in Welsh and to discuss progress with the Welsh language board.

Tax Credits

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the tax credit office will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) of 11 November 2005 (ref 2005/11006403); for what reasons there has been a delay in replying; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs very much regrets the delay in replying to the hon. Member's letters. I understand that they have now done so.

Valuation Office Agency

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the Valuation Office Agency's training material on aspects of council tax, including dwelling house coding.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 6 February 2006,  Official Report, column 1038W. This included training material on aspects of council tax. Any additional training is based on the Valuation Office Agency's council tax manual and instruction and advice documents to staff, which are available on the agency's website at www.voa.gov.uk.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Commission on Integration and Cohesion

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made in establishing the Commission on Integration and Cohesion.

Meg Munn: holding answer 18 May 2006
	The Prime Minister wrote to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 9 May asking her to chair the Commission on Integration and Cohesion that he announced last year.
	It is intended that the Commission will produce a framework for the Government's future work on Integration and Cohesion. I will make an announcement about the way ahead shortly.

Corporate Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions he has accepted corporate hospitality in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	Paragraph 5.28 of the Ministerial Code sets out the rules on the registration of hospitality.

Departmental Name Change

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the expected cost is of changing the name of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Department will bear down on the necessary costs arising from the establishment of the Department for Communities and Local Government and at all times will look to achieve best value for money for the complete exercise.
	The Department has allocated a budget of 8,000 to 12,000 for this exercise.

Grant Moneys

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements are in place for monitoring proper use of grant money allocated by her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Grants, other than those paid to local authorities, are covered by a legal agreement called a grant funding agreement. In that my Department carefully defines the expenditure which is eligible for grant funding and that which is not, and we include conditions covering value for money and financial propriety.
	Where these grants are over 20,000 a year then, by 30 September after the end of each year, the grant recipient must complete and submit to the Department a Statement of Grant Usage giving details of eligible expenditure during the funding period. This must be accompanied by a report from a reporting accountant, who must be a member of a supervisory body recognised by the Companies Acts, and be independent of the grant recipient using the definition given in section 27 of the Companies Act 1989.
	Arrangements for European grants and grants to local authorities are similar, except that for local authorities, instead of a reporting accountant, the Audit Commission appoints an external auditor to carry out the work. Some grants provided to local authorities from Government Departments are on a non ring-fenced basis, that is with no conditions attached. However, local authorities are subject to a comprehensive statutory framework which governs the uses to which their income can be put, and the control and accountability of their financial transactions. Since 2002 local authorities have also been subject to a comprehensive performance framework which provides a rounded picture of local councils' performance. The framework provides the basis for establishing a more effective and efficient relationship between central and local government, based on performance and on risk.

Home Information Packs

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Department will retain an electronic database of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	A register of completed home condition reports will be held by the Department in order to ensure the integrity of the reports. Data stored in the register will be accessible only to those parties having a legitimate interest in the transaction such as buyers, sellers, their advisers, and mortgage lenders, plus those ensuring the quality of the reports. Certification schemes will operate their own local registers. There will be no central database of home information packs.

Home Information Packs

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the expected total cost is of implementing home information packs over the next five years.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	A Regulatory Impact Assessment to be published alongside the regulations is to be laid next month.

Home Information Packs

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what period of time a Home Information Pack will be valid.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Neither the Housing Act 2004 nor the regulations made under the 2004 Act will prescribe a validity period for Home Information Packs. The regulations to be made later this year will provide that certain time-sensitive items in the pack (e.g. local searches and the Home Condition Report) are no more than three months old when marketing begins, but they will not require sellers to renew these documents thereafter.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact on the property market of the introduction of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	An assessment of the impact of home information packs will be published shortly in a regulatory impact assessment to accompany regulations to be made under Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004. This assessment will be updated in the light of the findings of a baseline study of the home buying and selling process to be carried out this year and information obtained during the dry-run of home information packs.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister who will be liable for the costs of a new local authority search for a home information pack if the property for sale is still on the market after the search has been deemed out of date.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	It should be relatively a rare occurrence that searches become out of date as we expect that home information packs will speed up the buying and selling process. We are not proposing to stipulate whether the buyer or the seller should update searches as it is a matter of judgment when searches need to be refreshed. Where they do need to be refreshed this can be done for a fraction of the cost of new searches.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment has been made of the impact on competition within the estate agent sector of the introduction of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The partial Regulatory Impact Assessment for Home Information Packs published in March 2003 (a copy of which is deposited in the House Library) covers the anticipated effect of the Home Information Pack on the estate agency sector. The Department also commissioned research Litmus Test of Impact of Regulations on Small Businesses, DETR 2000, that examined the impact of the proposals on a range of small businesses, including estate agents.
	Currently costs in the estate agent sector are not fully transparent. Over the last 10 years property prices have doubled allowing estate agents who keep their percentage fee broadly constant to significantly increase their income per transaction. The introduction of Home Information Packs will increase transparency over information and services provided to both sellers and buyers. This has the potential to increase competition and demand for transparency across the estate agency sector.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been allocated to raise public awareness of the home information pack scheme; and how it will be spent.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have a duty to inform the profession, stakeholders and homebuyers and sellers about the forthcoming change in the law. Expenditure for the 2005-06 financial year was 706,000. This includes the cost of an extensive trade advertising campaign to raise awareness of the June 2007 implementation date within the home buying and selling professions.
	Planned expenditure of 2,500,000 for 2006-07 includes continued awareness raising within the professions and a national and regional advertising campaign to raise awareness of home information packs among consumers, during the dry run.
	In 2007-08 we expect to run a major information campaign for consumers which would include marketing, advertising and publicity. The extent of the campaign and the level of investment will be decided later in the year on the basis of the experience of the dry run.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many home inspectors have completed their training to provide home condition reports; and how many inspectors he estimates will need to have qualified to ensure an effective introduction of the home information pack scheme.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	4,400 Home Inspectors are in the process of being trained, and as of 30 April 2006 200 have completed their training. The amount of training required depends on previous experience but the average surveyor can be trained in around five days plus the time taken to assemble a portfolio of work. Over the next 12 months we expect thousands of Home Inspectors to complete their training in time for the implementation date of 1 June 2007.
	We estimate that the number of Home Inspectors required will be between 5,000 and 7,400. This estimate has been developed in consultation with the industry, and it will be kept under review.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister where the proposed pilots for home information packs will take place.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Home information packs will be tested through a dry-run before becoming mandatory in June 2007. The dry-run will include home information packs provided on a voluntary basis throughout England and Wales.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Department has allocated in funding for  (a) marketing,  (b) advertising and  (c) publicity in relation to home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have a duty to inform the profession, stakeholders and home buyers and sellers about the forthcoming change in the law.
	Expenditure for the 2005-06 financial year was 706,000 of which:
	(a) 175,000 was spent on marketing,
	(b) 462,000 for planned advertising and
	(c) 69,000 on planned publicity.
	This includes the cost of a trade advertising campaign to raise awareness of the June 2007 implementation date within the home buying and selling professions.
	Planned expenditure of 2,500,00 for 2006-07 is made up of:
	(a) 628,000 on planned marketing,
	(b) 1,700,000 for planned advertising and
	(c) 172,000 on planned publicity.
	This includes continued awareness raising within the professions and a national and regional advertising campaign to raise awareness of home information packs among consumers during the dry run.
	In 2007-08 we expect to run a major information campaign for consumers which would include marketing, advertising and publicity. The extent of the campaign and the level of investment will be decided later in the year on the basis of the experience of the dry run

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance the Government have given local authorities on charging for information for inclusion in home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	There has been no such guidance. The Home Information Pack will include standard local searches derived from local authority records. The Government are considering how to implement the recommendations of the Office of Fair Trading market study into property searches, including the provision of clear guidance for local authorities on how they should recover the costs of providing property information in compiled and unrefined forms. Under the current rules, the Lord Chancellor sets the charge for an official search of the local land charge register and local authorities may set their own charge for supplementary inquiries that covers the cost of providing information. We intend to apply this principle to any new charging arrangements for dealing with the provision of search information and will provide the appropriate guidance to cover them.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the average amount of the compulsory insurance of last resort indemnity levy on home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The only new component of a home information pack will be the home condition report. These can only be provided by approved home inspectors. Details of the minimum insurance they will need to have will be set out in the Certification Scheme Standards that the Government will publish next month.
	It will be the responsibility of the estate agents to ensure that home information packs are otherwise complete. They will be required to belong to an approved redress scheme.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how long a home information pack will be valid for before its contents will have to be updated; and if he will estimate the cost of updating the pack after  (a) six months and  (b) 12 months.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Neither the Housing Act 2004 nor the regulations made under the Act will prescribe a validity period for Home Information Packs. However, we do not expect many properties to remain on the market for more than six months. The regulations to be made in June will provide that certain time-sensitive items in the pack (e.g. local searches and the Home Condition Report) are no more than three months old when marketing begins, but they will not require sellers to renew these documents thereafter. In practice, local authority searches are normally considered acceptable for six months as will Home Condition Reports. Where sellers choose to update time-sensitive documents in the pack, we expect the market to provide a means for them do so at a relatively small cost.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate the Government has made of the average level of charges by  (a) the Land Registry and  (b) local authorities for providing information for home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: The Home Information Pack will include the office copy of register entries where a property is registered on the Land Register. The Land Registry charge for this is 10. The average cost for local authority searches (i.e. an official search of the Local Land Charges Register and additional standard inquiries using form CON.29 Part 1) is estimated to be 160. Searches of local authority records carried out by private search companies are often cheaper and can be included in the Home Information Pack in certain circumstances.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many home inspectors are  (a) certified and  (b) in training.

Yvette Cooper: 4,400 Home Inspectors are in the process of being trained, and as of 30 April 2006 200 have completed their training. The amount of training required depends on previous experience but the average surveyor can be trained in around five days plus the time taken to assemble a portfolio of work. Over the next 12 months we expect thousands of Home Inspectors to complete their training in time for the implementation date of 1 June 2007.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what targets the Government have set in relation to the training of home inspectors.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	We estimate that the number of home inspectors required will be between 5,000 and 7,400. This estimate has been developed in consultation with the industry, and it will be kept under review.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether home inspectors can qualify via distance learning; and what the average length of the training course is.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE) offers the Diploma in Home Inspection through a number of assessment centres around the country. Although the most common route to obtain the qualification is by attending full or part-time courses at a college a number of assessment centres operate the qualification via distance learning.
	The amount of training required depends on previous experience but the average surveyor can be trained in around five days plus the time taken to assemble a portfolio of work.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether  (a) HM Revenue and Customs and  (b) the Valuation Office Agency will have access to the Register of Home Condition Reports; and what representations her Department has received from each body on access to the Register.

Yvette Cooper: No. Neither HM Revenue and Customs nor the Valuation Office Agency will have access to the Register.
	We received representations from various organisations including the Valuation Office Agency (but not HM Revenue and Customs) but concluded that access to the Register should be restricted by regulations to buyers and sellers, their advisers and mortgage lenders and those monitoring the performance and quality of the reports.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment the Government have made of the likely effects of the introduction of Home Information Packs on small estate agents.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	An assessment of the impact of Home Information Packs will be published shortly in a regulatory impact assessment to accompany regulations to be made under Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004. This assessment will be updated in the light of the findings of a baseline study of the home buying and selling process to be carried out this year and information obtained during the dry-run of Home Information Packs. Like other organisations in the property market small estate agents will need to adapt to the introduction of Home Information Packs in the interest of consumers.

Home Information Packs

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to monitor the effects on the housing market of the introduction of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: An assessment of the impact of home information packs (HIPs) will be published shortly in a regulatory impact assessment to accompany regulations to be made under part 5 of the Housing Act 2004. This assessment will be updated in the light of the findings of a baseline study of the home buying and selling process to be carried out this year and information obtained during the dry-run of home information packs. We will also discuss specific market impact issues with stakeholders as we near implementation date and, together with the industry, monitor the operation of HIPs after implementation.

Home Information Packs

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to set the cost of the home information pack.

Yvette Cooper: The cost of home information packs will be set by the market, not Government.

Home Information Packs

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to include details of whether land is contaminated within home inspection packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The home information pack will include a local search, which incorporates definitive information on whether the property is entered on the register of contaminated land that local authorities are obliged to maintain under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The pack may also include additional search reports relating to actual or potential environmental hazards, including contaminated land.

Home Inspectors

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many home inspectors  (a) have been trained,  (b) are in training and  (c) have expressed an interest in training.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	4,400 Home Inspectors are in the process of being trained, and as of 30 April 2006 200 have completed their training. The amount of training required depends on previous experience but the average surveyor can be trained in around five days plus the time taken to assemble a portfolio of work. Over the next 12 months we expect thousands of home inspectors to complete their training in time for the implementation date of 1 June 2007.
	There is no central record of the number of people who have expressed an interest to become a home inspector but a high level of interest continues to be shown.

Home Inspectors

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to change the training period for Home Inspectors.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department will continue to work with the key parties including the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE) and the assessment centres to make sure that prospective Home Inspectors are trained as quickly as possible and at an acceptable cost.

Home Inspectors

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of home information pack inspectors who will be required.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	We estimate that the number of home inspectors required will be between 5,000 and 7,400. This estimate has been developed in consultation with the industry, and it will be kept under review.

Home Inspectors

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Home Information Pack inspectors have been trained to date.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	4,400 Home Inspectors are in the process of being trained, and as of 30 April 2006 200 have completed their training. The amount of training required depends on previous experience but the average surveyor can be trained in around five days plus the time taken to assemble a portfolio of work. Over the next 12 months we expect thousands of Home Inspectors to complete their training in time for the implementation date of 1 June 2007.

Home Inspectors

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many home condition inspectors have been trained; and how many are in training.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	4,400 home inspectors are in the process of being trained, and as of 30 April 2006 200 have completed their training. The amount of training required depends on previous experience but the average surveyor can be trained in around five-days plus the time taken to assemble a portfolio of work. Over the next 12 months we expect thousands of home inspectors to complete their training in time for the implementation date of 1 June 2007.

Housing (West Chelmsford)

Simon Burns: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure timely development of infrastructure to keep pace with housing in construction in West Chelmsford constituency.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 24 April 2006
	I have been asked to reply.
	Public sector investment in the eastern regions has increased substantially over the last nine years. Local authorities also have the ability to use S106 agreements to secure developer contributions.
	My colleagues in the Department for Transport will consider any proposals for future infrastructure which may be identified by the local planning authority, for example in their Local Transport Plan, taking into account the priorities which the region has indicated.
	The Government are currently considering the responses to the consultation on the Planning Gain Supplement which would help increase investment in infrastructure in the local areas experiencing housing growth.

Local Authorities (Work Force)

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to promote the employment of a mixed age work force among local authorities.

Meg Munn: Local authorities are independent employers. They recognise the benefits of recruiting, training, and retaining staff of all ages to help encourage a more diverse work force. The Local Government Employers (LGE) works with local authorities on issues regarding pay, pensions and the employment contract, in order to ensure best delivery of local services.
	The Government are strongly committed to tackling age discrimination. New legislation, the Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, coming into force in October, will make unjustified age discrimination in recruitment, training, promotion or dismissal, unlawful for workers of all ages.
	LGE has drawn up guidance information to help local authorities implement the new legislation. In addition, the Government also support mixed-age working through the Age Positive campaign led by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisers in his Department have stayed overnight in (i) five star, (ii) four star and (iii) three star hotels on foreign visits in each of the last three years.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Newcastle/Gateshead Pathfinder

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the answer of 15 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 2374-5W, on the Newcastle/Gateshead pathfinder, if he will place in the Library the strategic commission plans, programmes and budget allocations for each strategic commission area of the Newcastle/Gateshead housing market pathfinder.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	I shall place a copy of Bridging Newcastle's pathfinder scheme update, including its proposals for each strategic commission area, in the Libraries of both Houses.

Parliamentary Questions

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will provide a substantive reply to question 64723, on infrastructure in West Chelmsford, tabled by the hon. Member for West Chelmsford on 18 April.

Yvette Cooper: I have answered the hon. Member's question today. I apologise for the delay in replying.

Race Relations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what projects the Government has commissioned to improve relations between black and Asian communities.

Meg Munn: The Government have not specifically commissioned projects to improve relations between black and Asian communities; however it has supported a range of initiatives which will improve community relations in general. For example, 18 million will be provided over three years by the 'Connecting Communities Plus' grant programme, and .5 million was provided in 2005-06 by the 'Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund', in support of the Government's race equality and community cohesion strategy 'Improving Opportunity Strengthening Society'.
	In addition public authorities have a statutory duty to promote good relations between persons of different racial groups. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) oversees this duty and published 'Promoting good Race Relations: A Guide for Public Authorities' in July 2005. The Equality Act 2006 prepares the ground for a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) which will absorb the activities of the CRE in 2009, and transfers this good relations duty onto the new body. To carry this out the CEHR will have new powers to monitor, as well as to make, co-operate with or assist in any arrangement s designed to reduce hate crimes. The CEHR will have particular regard to the importance of its work with different groups reflecting the historical origin of the duty.
	The CRE also gives grants to organisations concerned with the promotion of race equality and good race relations through the 'Getting Results' programme. The programme will distribute c4.2 million in the current financial year. In particular, Race Equality Councils (RECs) aim to improve relations between all communities, and over 2.5 million of the CRE's funding this year will go to RECs.

Register of Home Condition Report

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which  (a) Department and  (b) agency will maintain the electronic register of Home Condition Reports; and whether the Government plan to use private contractors to develop the register.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Each certification scheme approved by the Secretary of State will hold a register of Home Condition Reports completed by home inspectors accountable to them. A copy of each Home Condition Report will also be registered in a central register owned by DCLG. Potential suppliers were invited on 9 March 2006 to express and interest in providing the register. The technical requirements of the register have been developed in consultation with the industry.

Search Fees

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what discretion local authorities have  (a) to levy and  (b) to set fees for search services; and whether such fees are capped;
	(2)  what estimate the Government have made of the local authority revenue from search fees in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: The Local Authorities (Charges for Land Searches) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994 No. 1885) provides local authorities with a discretionary power to charge for answering inquiries about land and property made in connection with home sales and other transactions. In determining the amount of the charge, each authority has to have regard to its costs in dealing with such inquiries.
	Charges for local land charges register enquiries are prescribed by the Lord Chancellor. The current fees are set out in the Local Land Charges (Amendment) Rules 2003. The fee for an official search of the register is 6 (4 if undertaken electronically). The fee for a personal search of the local land charges register is 11. Fees are also set for office copies and certain other types of application.

Second Homes

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many second homes for council tax purposes were recorded in England in  (a) 1997-98,  (b) 2005-06 and  (c) the latest period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The number of properties in England designated as second homes and eligible for a discount in council tax as at 19 September 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, was 236,000.
	The number of second homes as recorded for council tax purposes was not separately identifiable in 1997-98.

Staff Development

David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost was of  (a) staff away days and  (b) staff team building exercises in his Department in each of the last three years.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	Full information on the total cost of staff away days and team building exercises organised by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Transsexuals

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government are taking to ensure equality of access to services for transsexuals; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The Government made clear during recent parliamentary debates on the Equality Act that it will prohibit discrimination on grounds of gender reassignment in the provision of goods, facilities and services. The Government are taking forward the necessary work in the context of the Discrimination Law Review.

Valuation Office Agency

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2006,  Official Report, column 1814W to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman), on the Valuation Office Agency, what  (a) statutory and  (b) non-statutory obligations local planning authorities have to provide planning information to the Valuation Office Agency.

Phil Woolas: Section 27(1) of the Local Government Finance Act (LGFA) 1992 prescribes that where a notice is served by a listing officer on a billing authority, requesting information relating to a property that he reasonably believes will assist him in carrying out his functions, then the authority must supply the information requested.
	Section 27(6) of LGFA 1992 prescribes that, where in the exercise of its functions any information comes to the notice of a billing authority which it considers would assist a listing officer in carrying out any of his functions, it shall be the authority's duty to inform the listing officer.
	Paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 9 of Local Government Finance Act 1988 prescribes that if in the course of the exercise of its functions any information comes to the notice of the billing authority which leads it to suppose that a list requires alteration it shall be the authority's duty to inform the valuation officer who has the duty to maintain the list.
	Regulation 42(2) of the Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/659) specifies the information to be provided as:
	(a) the address of the property;
	(b) the nature of the event by reason of which, in the opinion of the relevant authority, the local non-domestic rating list is required to be altered;
	(c) the day from which, in the opinion of the relevant authority, such alteration should take effect; and
	(d) if the property is shown in a local non-domestic rating list, any reference number ascribed to it in that list.
	Paragraph 7 of Schedule 4A to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 prescribes that a billing authority shall supply to the valuation officer a copy of any completion notice served by it; notify the valuation officer if it withdraws a completion notice and supply the valuation officer with details of any agreement to which it is party and by virtue of which a completion day is determined under Section 4A in relation to the building.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

China Task Force

Greg Hands: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to visit the 2008 Beijing Olympics as part of his ministerial role as head of the China Task Force.

John Prescott: I visited the site of the Beijing Olympics on my trip to China earlier this year and held discussions with the Mayor of Beijing. I have also discussed the Beijing and, more recently, the London Olympics as part of the annual visits I have made to China for the past eight years. UK Government representation at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has not yet been finalised.

China Task Force

Greg Hands: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what priorities he has set for his role as head of the China Task Force.

John Prescott: The China Task Force was established as a result of my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister's visit to China in 2003, when he agreed with the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that a group should be set up to consider issues of interest to our two countries' bilateral relations. State Counsellor Tang Jiaxuan was nominated to be the chair for the Chinese side and the Prime Minister asked me to represent him.
	The Task Force's remit covers trade and investment, education, science and technology, health, culture, environment and sustainable development, and development issues. These areas align closely with the areas identified for cross-departmental action being developed in response to the challenges of globalisation. The Task Force is recognised and valued by both the UK and Chinese Governments as a high-level contact mechanism for deepening relations in the areas under its remit.

Dorneywood

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria he will apply for the issuing of invitations to Dorneywood.

John Prescott: holding answer 11 May 2006
	The criteria for the use of Dorneywood are set out in the terms of the charitable trust, established in 1942, which owns the property. The Prime Minister may nominate, at his discretion, a Minister of the Crown to become the resident. All residents have been required to abide by the terms of the trust, and I have fully done this. Since Dorneywood is a charitable trust, there is no cost to the public purse.

Dorneywood

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions he has offered hospitality at Dorneywood to members of  (a) foreign and  (b) Commonwealth Governments in each year since he took up residence.

John Prescott: The information requested is not collected. Use of Dorneywood is governed by the terms of the trust, which I abide by fully.

Dorneywood

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which of his new responsibilities will qualify as official in relation to the use of Dorneywood for such purposes.

John Prescott: holding answer 11 May 2006
	The criteria for the use of Dorneywood are set out in the terms of the charitable trust, established in 1942, which owns the property. The Prime Minister may nominate, at his discretion, a Minister of the Crown to become the resident. Previous residents have included Chancellors, a Home Secretary and other Deputy Prime Ministers. All residents have been required to abide by the terms of the trust, and I have fully done this. Since Dorneywood is a charitable trust, there is no cost to the public purse.

Ministerial Duties

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he will publish an annual report to Parliament on his ministerial duties; and if he will make a statement.

John Prescott: I shall remain fully accountable to Parliament, answering both written and oral questions in the usual way.

Ministerial Duties

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much time per week he expects to be available for him to carry out his responsibilities as Deputy Prime Minister.

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of his working time he expects to spend on official Government duties.

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the proportion of his time which will be available for his role as Deputy Prime Minister.

John Prescott: holding answer 11 May 2006
	My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 10 May 2006 that he has asked me to take on a new role overseeing and co-ordinating Government policy across the full range of domestic policy areas. He has also asked me to continue my international role, particularly with relation to China, and to work on delivering our post-Kyoto environmental objectives here in the UK. I shall, therefore, continue to play a full and active role, and will divide my time between these new responsibilities according to what is required.

Slavery

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Advisory Group on celebrating the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery plans to discuss the issue of whether a formal apology for slavery should be made.

John Prescott: The Advisory Group on the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade currently has no plans to discuss the question of whether a formal apology for the slave trade should be made. However, the Advisory Group is able to discuss all aspects of the slave trade, its abolition, and the celebrations connected to the bicentenary of its abolition.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Adviser Discretion Fund

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of recent reductions in the permitted individual amounts available under the adviser discretion fund; what steps he is taking to secure the maximum benefits from discretionary sums available to jobcentre plus advisers; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Jobcentre plus is responsible for the management of the adviser discretion fund (ADF) which enables the purchase of virtually anything that will help people obtain a job, or, if already offered a job, to enable them to accept that offer.
	To maintain effective controls on expenditure, the level at which an adviser can authorise payment from the fund, without requiring a supporting business case, was reduced in May 2005 to 100 per customer within any 12 month period. Awards above that level are authorised at a higher management level to ensure efficient and effective use of public funds. There is no limit on the individual amounts that can be awarded as long as they are supported by a business case.
	Improved financial control has been achieved by delegating budgetary accountability to local managers and further value for money has been achieved by the implementation of the retail trade framework (RTF). Advisers can refer recipients of the ADF to suppliers who are part of the RTF and this has enabled jobcentre plus to achieve savings of up to 40 per cent. on high street prices and obtain more for less.

Ageist

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made on the National Guidance Campaign on non-ageist practice by employers.

James Purnell: The Department's 'Be Ready' National Guidance campaign, developed in conjunction with leading business organisations, was launched in May 2005. Approximately 1.4 million employers were mailed information designed to raise awareness of age discrimination legislation, due to come into effect from 1 October 2006, and to provide practical guidance to help employers become more age diverse in their employment practices.
	The next stage of the campaign will be launched in June with fully updated materials mailed to over 1.4 million employers. Materials will also be freely available from the website, www.agepositive.gov.uk/agepartnershipgroup.
	An evaluation of 1,650 employers, who had ordered the products, has been carried out and the results are due to be published shortly. Preliminary results show that respondents overall were very happy with the materials they received and found the products clear, easy to use, well designed, helpful and useful. A further evaluation of the second phase of the campaign is planned for later in the year.

Asbestos-related Cancer

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government paid out in attendance allowance to people diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer in each of the last three years.

Anne McGuire: The estimated expenditure for constant attendance allowance in 2005-06, where the recipient has asbestos related cancer, is 800,000.
	 Notes:
	1. The figure is an estimate based on D3 and D8 proportions of constant attendance allowance expenditure taken from a 10 per cent. sample of industrial injuries disablement benefit assessments which was then applied to the 100 per cent. industrial Injuries Computer System data and rounded to the nearest 100,000.
	2. Asbestos related cancer is defined by the prescribed diseases, D3 (Diffuse Mesothelioma) and D8 (Primary Carcinoma of the lung where there is evidence of either asbestosis or pleural thickening).

Benefit Claims

John McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days were taken to process a benefit claim in West Dumbartonshire constituency in May  (a) 2006,  (b) 2004 and  (c) 2005.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the time to rate a claim for jobseeker's allowance, income support and incapacity benefit was in West Dunbartonshire in May 2006, May 2004 and May 2005. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Our measure of the time taken to process a claim is the actual average clearance time. Since April, national Jobcentre Plus targets have been set for the clearance of claims to jobseeker's allowance, income support and incapacity benefit, replacing the former Key Management Indicators. The targets have been set at 12 working days for jobseeker's allowance claims, 11 working days for income support and 18 working days for incapacity benefit.
	The actual average clearance times for the West Dunbartonshire area expressed in working days are in the table. As the figure for May 2006 is not yet available details for April 2006 have been included.
	
		
			   Jobseekers allowance  Income support  Incapacity benefit 
			   Target (days)  Clearance time (days)  Target (days)  Clearance time (days)  Target (days)  Clearance time (days) 
			 May 2004 12 8.1 12 10.8 19 19.4 
			 May 2005 12 11.1 12 11.4 19 27.0 
			 April 2006 12 13.4 11 12.6 18 14.1 
		
	
	Although the average actual clearance time for incapacity benefit in May 2005 was 27 days, the overall figure for 2005-06 was 16.4 days.
	We are also concentrating additional resources on improving our current performance in clearing claims for income support and jobseeker's allowance.
	I hope this is helpful.

Child Support Agency

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of claimants who decline to identify the father of their child for Child Support Agency purposes.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of claimants who decline to identify the father of their child for Child Support Agency purposes.
	Any application made by a parent with care for Income Support or Income- Based Jobseekers Allowance should be accompanied by an application for Child Support maintenance, which requires the identification of the relevant non-resident parent. A parent with care can refuse to provide this identification, in which case one of two outcomes can result:
	1. If there are reasonable grounds for believing that a risk to the parent with care or to any of their children living with them exists, and that harm or undue distress could result from identifying the non-resident parent, then 'Good Cause' will be granted and no further action will be taken.
	2. If it is determined that no such reasonable grounds exist, then a continued withholding of this information can lead to a loss of benefit under a Reduced Benefit Direction (for old scheme cases) or a Reduced Benefit Decision (for new scheme cases).
	In the financial year 2005/06, a claim for Good Cause was approved in 14,800 cases, and a Reduced Benefit Decision/Direction imposed in 14,400 cases.
	It should be noted that these figures are derived from management information held by Jobcentre Plus, and thus differ from the information provided by the Agency in Table 2.2 of the Agency's latest Quarterly Summary Statistics (QSS). There are three main reasons for this:
	The data in Table 2.2 of the Quarterly Summary Statistics only shows the initial clearance type for those cases that have been cleared, and thus will not show those cases where a claim for Good Cause or the imposition of a Reduced Benefit Decision has been approved, but the case itself has yet to be cleared.
	Table 2.2 only shows new scheme cases, whereas the cases above include old scheme and new scheme cases.
	Table 2.2 only shows the method by which a case was initially cleared, whereas the numbers given above are for the total number of Good Cause and Reduced Benefit Decisions/Directions approved or imposed in the financial year 2005/06.
	Note that the information given is recorded on the basis of cases, rather than claimants. The data therefore reflects this, and volumes are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Claim Processing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many days it took on average to rate a claim for  (a) income support,  (b) jobseeker's allowance and  (c) incapacity benefit in Fife in the most recent period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what targets his Department has set for the number of days taken to rate claims for  (a) income support,  (b) jobseeker's allowance and  (c) incapacity benefit in Fife.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 12 May 2006
	The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many days it took on average to rate a claim for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit in Fife in the most recent period for which figures are available and what targets his Department has set for the number of days taken to rate claims for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit in Fife. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Our measure of the time taken to process a claim is the Actual Average Clearance Time. For 2005/06, the Jobcentre Plus internal Key Management Indicator (or target) for processing claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance was 12 working days while the figure for Incapacity Benefit was 19 working days. From April 2006, the Key Management Indicator has been upgraded to a full headline Jobcentre Plus target and the figures changed to 11 days for Income Support and 18 working days for Incapacity Benefit. The level for Jobseeker's Allowance remains at 12 days.
	The Actual Average Clearance Times for the Fife area are in the table.
	
		
			  Days 
			   March 2006( 1)  Cumulative for the period from April 2005 to March 2006  Key Management Indicator( 2) 
			 Incapacity benefit 15.5 11.9 19 
			 Income support 13.3 9.7 12 
			 Jobseeker's allowance 14.5 13.4 12 
			 (1 )Most recent period available.  (2) Actual average clearance time. 
		
	
	I hope this is helpful.

Customer Management Systems

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent developments have taken place in rolling out the various releases of the Department's Customer Management Systems (CMS); what progress has been made in replacement of CMS by the BPRP/WATCH programme; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what recent developments have taken place in rolling out the various releases of the Department's Customer Management Systems (CMS), and what progress has been made in replacement of CMS by the BPRP/WATCH programme. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Since CMS was first implemented in 2003 there have been several further releases that have significantly improved system performance. The most recent improvements have been introduced with Releases 3 and 3.5. Release 3 was introduced to all existing CMS sites in October 2005 following user feedback. The release included a significant reduction in the clerical products which previously supported the system, as well as other enhancements.
	Release 3.5 was introduced to all existing CMS sites in March 2006 and provided:
	improved validation to ensure that information gathered and verified within CMS was transferred electronically to the Income Support Computer and Jobseeker's Allowance Payment systems;
	fixes to live running problems; and
	other changes to improve the system for staff.
	Plans are now in place to introduce Release 4 of CMS in June 2006 and this release will build on the improvements made in Release 3.5 as well as supporting legislative changes.
	The longer term future for CMS is being considered as part of the Department's Benefit Processing Replacement Programme (BPRP).

Departmental Contact Centres

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the percentage of people telephoning contact centres run by his Department who got through on their first attempt between April 2005 and March 2006; and how long it took for them to be called back.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the percentage of people telephoning contact centres who got through on the first attempt between April 2005 and March 2006; and how long it took for them to be called back. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Month  Percentage of calls answered( 1)  Number of days booking ahead for Call backs( 2)  (first contact service only) 
			  2005   
			 April 82.6  
			 May 85.9  
			 June 80.9  
			 July 75.1  
			 August 75.5  
			 September 77.5  
			 October 88.3 3.2 
			 November 93.7 1.7 
			 December 95.9 0.9 
			  2006   
			 January 96.2 1.1 
			 February 96.3 0.9 
			 March 95.9 0.9 
			 Year to date 86.6  
			  Notes: 1. The percentage of calls answered represents calls made to the first contact service (customers wishing to make a new claim to benefit) and Jobseeker Direct Service (customers inquiring about Jobs). 2. Data on number of days booking ahead has only been collected centrally from October 2005 
		
	
	We do not have information on the number of customer calls that are answered on their first or on subsequent attempts.
	I hope this is helpful.

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on advertising by  (a) his Department,  (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) Executive agency for which his Department is responsible and  (c) each independent statutory body, organisation and body financially sponsored by his Department in each year since May 1997.

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 20 July 2005,  Official Report, columns 1810-11W, on departmental advertising, whether the figures provided include all costs of publicity which the Department has incurred in each year.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department for Social Security, the former Department for Education and Employment, and the Employment Service. Information prior to 2001 is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Departmental advertising costs 
			   000 
			  2005-06( 1)  
			 State pension deferral 300 
			 Images of disability 2 
			 Targeting benefit fraud 4,553 
			 Pension credit 362 
			 Winter fuel payments 918 
			 State second pension 675 
			 Age Partnership group 19 
			 National sector campaign 23 
			   
			  2004-05( 1)  
			 Age Positive 29 
			 State pension deferral 115 
			 Disability Discrimination Act 1,992 
			 Targeting benefit fraud 6,017 
			 Direct payment 8,379 
			 Council tax benefit 674 
			 Pension credit 4,388 
			 Winter fuel payments 515 
			 Lone parent leaflet promotion marketing 216 
			 National vacancy campaign 390 
			 IB reforms pilots 106 
			   
			  2003-04( 1)  
			 Age Positive 70 
			 Second state pension 216 
			 Pension service awareness 906 
			 New Deal 5,678 
			 Disability Discrimination Act 40 
			 Targeting benefit fraud 8,383 
			 Direct payment 11,095 
			 Council tax benefit 556 
			 Pension credit 9,907 
			 Winter fuel payments 625 
			 Jobseekers direct 1,632 
			 IB reforms pilot 113 
			 Jobcentre Plus customer marketing 1,401 
			 National employer campaign 1,158 
			   
			  2002-03( 1)  
			 Age Positive 706 
			 Future pensioners/informed choice 2,878 
			 Second state pension 489 
			 New Deal for Musicians 33 
			 Disability Discrimination Act 50 
			 Targeting benefit fraud 35 
			 Direct payment 858 
			 Winter fuel payments 627 
			 Inherited SERPS 646 
			   
			  2001-02( 1)  
			 Minimum income guarantee 3,365 
			 Winter fuel 475 
			 Future Pensioners/Informed Choice 4,740 
			 Age Positive 6 
			 Fraud 8,039 
			 New Deal 25 Plus 613 
			 New Deal for Disabled People 350 
			 Disability Discrimination Act 2,882 
			 (1) The table does not include the following as the information is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost: spend by non-departmental bodies for which the Department is responsible details of highly localised publicity activity by the Department's customer-facing businesses recruitment or procurement advertising Jobcentre Plus publicity during 2002-03 as at that time allocations sat with individual policy teams and within regional budgets. 
		
	
	The information in the table, and that in the answer of 20 July 2005,  Official Report, relate to media buying expenditure only which forms the bulk of departmental publicity expenditure, but excludes direct mail, public relations, production and other costs.
	These figures update the information provided on 20 July 2005 (PQ/05/9501) following the identification of a number of transcription errors in that reply.
	The following tables show the correct advertising media breakdown for 2004-05 and 2003-04.
	
		
			  2004-05 
			  Campaign/subject  TV  Radio  Press  Other 
			 Age Positive   29,000  
			 State pension deferral   115,440  
			 Disability Discrimination Act  1,016,540 885,000 90,000 
			 Targeting benefit fraud 1,481,000 1,140,000 618,000 2,778,000 
			 Direct payment 2,668,000 930,000 4,046,000 735,000 
			 Council tax benefit  12,810 660,970  
			 Pension credit 1,687,580 46,840 2,633,520 20,500 
			 Winter fuel payments   514,910  
			 IB reforms pilots  35,290 70,630  
			 Lone parent leaflet promotion marketing   215,740  
			 National vacancy campaign   323,500 66,000 
			 Total 5,836,580 3,181,480 10,112,710 3,689,500 
		
	
	
		
			  2003-04 
			  Campaign  TV  Radio  Press  Other 
			 Age Positive   70,400  
			 Second state pension   215,590  
			 Pension service awareness   906,100  
			 New deal 3,526,190 818,030 1,043,320 290,410 
			 Disability Discrimination Act  40,290   
			 Targeting benefit fraud 1,835,000 1,145,000 1,423,000 3,980,000 
			 Direct payment 3,594,000 1,872,000 5,389,000 240,000 
			 Council tax benefit   556,230  
			 Pension credit 3,570,860 30,990 6,305,170  
			 Winter fuel payments   625,000  
			 Jobseekers direct 1,565,730  66,420  
			 IB reforms pilot  45,090 67,510  
			 Jobcentre plus customer marketing   11,860 1,389,000 
			 National employer campaign   1,158,020  
			 Total 14,091,780 3,951,400 17,837,620 5,899,410 
			  Notes:  1. All figures in the departmental advertising costs table have been rounded to the nearest thousand, while the revised tables from 20 July 2005 have not in order to be consistent with the previous reply.  2. Press includes national press, regional press, specialist press, advertorials and featurelink.  3. Other includes outdoor, online and ambient media.  4. All figures are exclusive of VAT.

Departmental Relocation

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in the relocation of departmental posts from the South East to other regions.

Anne McGuire: The basis of the Department's relocation strategy resulting from the Lyons' review is to relocate posts rather than people. Information on the number of posts relocated from London and the South East to other regions is contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Posts relocated from London and the South East between 1 June 2003 to 31 December 2005 
			  Location  Number of posts 
			 Blackpool 453 
			 Cwmbran 286 
			 Liverpool 399 
			 Wrexham 510 
			 Newcastle 387 
			 Pembroke Dock 386 
			 Dundee 40 
			 Sheffield 68 
			 Makerfield 198 
			 Bradford 129 
			 Annesley, Grimsby, Liverpool, and Peterlee 26 
			 Plymouth, Bristol and Edinburgh 74 
			 Taunton 95 
			 Halifax 31 
			 Bridgend 69 
			 Derby 25 
			 Total relocated posts 3,176

Disability Equality Duty

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether private finance initiative contracts agreed by public bodies up until 3 December 2006 will be required to meet the requirements of the Disability Equality Duty within the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.

Anne McGuire: The Disability Equality Duty comes into force on 4 December 2006 and contracting-out services before then are not covered by the requirements of the Duty.
	However, public authorities should be considering the need to put measures in place now so that they can demonstrate that they are giving 'due regard' to the Disability Equality Duty after 4 December. For example, if an authority is planning to contract-out a major service, it should consider building in arrangements to promote equality now so that it does not have consider varying the contract once the Duty is in place.

Disabled People

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what initiatives the Government have introduced to ensure that people with a range of disabilities are treated equally.

Anne McGuire: The Government have given a commitment that, by 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life, and will be respected and included as equal members of society.
	Following a recommendation in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, we have set up an Office for Disability Issues (ODI) to drive forward our strategy to meet this challenge. The work of the ODI is overseen by a ministerial group, involving Ministers from several key Departments (Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills, Department of Trade and Industry, Department for Transport, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Communities and Local Government).
	The Government have also put in place a comprehensive and enforceable set of civil rights for disabled people. For example, provisions introduced in October 2004 substantially improved rights in employment and required service providers to make reasonable adjustments to tackle physical barriers to disabled people accessing their services. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 amended the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) to provide rights for disabled pupils and students in education.
	Most recently, the DDA 2005 extended rights for disabled people in a number of areas including transport, functions of public bodies, private clubs and the renting of premises. It also extended protection to around 250,000 people, effectively from the point they are diagnosed with cancer, multiple sclerosis or HIV, freeing them from pre-symptomatic discrimination. In addition, people with mental illness will avoid the unnecessary burden of being required to prove their condition is clinically well-recognised to get redress against discrimination.
	Importantly, from 4 December 2006, the DDA 2005 places a new duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. This will mean that public bodies must take account of the needs of disabled people as an integral part of their policies, practices and procedures.
	The ODI is responsible for raising awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act and improving attitudes to disabled people. A campaign aimed at small and medium-sized businesses was launched on in December 2005 and will initially run until the end of May 2006. The ODI also sponsors the Images of Disability initiative to promote representation of disabled people in Government advertising and publicity.

Hazardous Substances

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Trade and Industry regarding the letter from the Treasury Solicitors dated 27 April 2006 on the role played by the Health and Safety Executive in connection with risk analysis conducted in relation to the issuing of Hazardous Substances consents to Dragon LNG and South Hook LNG; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 22 May 2006
	Health and Safety Executive (HSE) did not discuss with DTI the content of the letter from Treasury Solicitors to all the other parties to the proceedings, their solicitors, and the Civil Appeals Office sent on the 27 April, although DTI was a copy recipient of the letter.

Home Computer Initiative

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what costs were associated with setting up the Home Computing Initiative scheme for his Department, including consultancy and administrative costs.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions had intended to launch a Home Computing Initiative in the winter of 2006. The only costs incurred have been the internal staff costs on the early stages of the project, which we estimate to be around 47,000. There have been no consultancy costs.

Incapacity Benefit

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many constituents in Midlothian are receiving  (a) long-term and  (b) short-term incapacity benefit.

Anne McGuire: The most recent available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants  in the Midlothian parliamentary constituency,  by rate of benefit: November 2005 
			   Number 
			 All incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance 4,290 
			 Incapacity benefit short-term (lower) rate 130 
			 Incapacity benefit short-term (higher) rate 190 
			 Incapacity benefit long-term rate 2,330 
			 Incapacity benefit credits-only 1,090 
			 Severe disablement allowance 550 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Job Vacancies

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many job vacancies were on the register on average at job centres in Easington constituency in each year between 2001 and 2005; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many job vacancies there were on average on the register at job centres in Easington constituency in each year from 2000.

Anne McGuire: Information on Jobcentre plus vacancy data by parliamentary constituency is only available from April 2004 and is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Easington parliamentary constituency 
			   Average number of 'live' unfilled vacancies on the register on any given day 
			 2004 1,430 
			 2005 1,350 
			  Source:  Jobcentre plus labour market system

Jobcentre Plus

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes have been made to the Jobcentre Plus delivery process as a result of the national operational strategy changes undertaken in 2005.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what changes have been made to the Jobcentre Plus delivery process as a result of the national operational strategy changes undertaken in 2005. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Throughout 2005 Jobcentre Plus continued to implement the rollout of its new style offices. Jobcentre Plus also responded to temporary difficulties in some contact centres in Summer 2005 by making operational adjustments to improve levels of customer service. We are also testing whether further improvements can be made. Jobcentre Plus has also started the centralisation of benefits delivery services in order to support better workflow and performance management and provide a more compact basis for IT improvements.
	Customers continue to be offered personal advice and support in finding work through local jobcentres. They are also able to make claims to benefit and receive telephone help with job enquiries through a national network of telephone contact centres. These essential elements of the delivery process have not changed.
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobcentre Plus

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action is being taken to ensure people who have experienced delays in their benefit payments due to changes at Jobcentre Plus do not incur penalties as a result, with particular reference to repossession of property.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what action is being taken to ensure people who have experienced delays in their benefit payments due to changes at Jobcentre Plus do not incur penalties as a result, with particular reference to repossession of property.
	A series of actions has been put in place to address the recent increase in the average actual clearance times for income support assessments to 12.2 days. We expect that these actions will steadily bring back performance to within the target of 11 working days. As a safeguard, any customer experiencing financial hardship while awaiting benefit can request an interim payment.
	Customers are responsible for the payment of their mortgage interest for the first nine months of their claim with help included in their benefit entitlement only after this period has elapsed. The minor delays currently being experienced in the assessment of income support entitlement will therefore not have any marked impact on repossessions of property.
	Customers are advised at the start of a claim that they should contact their mortgage lender as soon as possible to discuss their mortgage repayments.
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobcentre Plus

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the level of staff satisfaction of Jobcentre Plus staff.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what assessment he has made of the level of staff satisfaction of Jobcentre Plus staff. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Staff satisfaction is measured in part through the annual DWP Staff Survey. The 2005 survey showed that staff generally respected their immediate line managers and were clear on the purpose and objectives of their individual job roles. However, the survey also showed that people had low confidence in our senior leaders and were particularly concerned about job security.
	These results are in line with what we would expect, given the scale and pace of our change programme, which is designed to provide a better quality of service to our customers within the context of the Departmental efficiency challenge.
	We have substantially improved the range and frequency of feedback opportunities through which staff can debate issues that affect them and express their views directly to the Board and senior managers. We fully understand the concerns of our staff and are committed to taking appropriate action to address them.
	I hope this is helpful.

Pathways to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what elements of the Pathways to Work programme will be funded by the 360 million earmarked for its roll out; and how the sum was calculated.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The funding for welfare reform has been drawn from the budgets provided to the Department through the 2004 Spending Review settlement which covered the financial years 2005-06 to 2007-08. Details are available in The Departmental Report 2005 (Cm 6539) published in June 2005. The 360 million funding is largely to be spent extending the Pathways to Work programme beyond the pilot areas and covers 2006-07 and 2007-08, but may also be used to fund other measures dependent on responses to the Welfare Reform consultation.
	A detailed costing of the various parts of our proposals is not possible at this time. This is especially the case in relation to the costs for each Pathways to Work scheme as we are looking to the private and voluntary sector to deliver many of the Pathways schemes and it is not possible to provide detailed costs prior to contract negotiations.

Pathways to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 4 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1768W, on pathways to work, how many claimants the figures represent in each case.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			  Numbers of pathways to work participants and of choices starts 
			   Registered with New Deal for Disabled People Job Broker  Referred to the Condition Management Programme  Awarded the Return to Work Credit 
			   All new claimants in pathways areas  Claimants who volunteer to participate in choices programme  All new claimants in Pathways areas  Claimants who volunteer to participate in choices programme  All new claimants in pathways areas  Claimants who volunteer to participate in choices programme 
			 Existing customers-volunteers 1,530 1,530 970 790 3,320 740 
			 New/repeat mandatory customers 7,630 8,010 6,410 5,950 8,260 2,500 
			 Existing customers-mandatory extension 850 850 1,500 1,500 350 N/A 
			 Notes:  1. Data are to October 2005.  2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest ten.   Source:  Pathways to work evaluation database

Pathways to Work

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what work the Government have undertaken to identify the destinations of the 56 per cent. residual unknown category leaving Pathways to Work detailed in Table 1 of HC 616-I.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The Department is continually making efforts to improve our destinations information and analytical evidence base, and therefore our knowledge of what happens to working age people when they leave a benefit. For example, in addition to the data used in Table 1 of HC 616-1 the Department also uses information gathered from the 2004 Destination of Benefit Leavers survey, which is available in the Library.
	The Destination of Benefit Leavers surveys provide more detail about the reasons for leaving where claimants were not going into work of 16 hours or more. It showed that 50 per cent. of those leaving incapacity benefits entered or returned to work of 16 hours or more. Of the remainder, 19 per cent. moved on to another working age benefit, most to JSA, 7 per cent. left because they were no longer eligible to claim or their benefit had been stopped and a further 7 per cent. left because they had been disallowed following a medical assessment.

Pension Age

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of state retirement pensioners aged over  (a) 80 and  (b) 90 years in (i) 1980, (ii) 1990, (iii) 2000, (iv) 2010, (v) 2020, (vi) 2030, (vii) 2040 and (viii) 2050; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The information is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Thousand 
			   Over 80  Over 90 
			 Nov 1980 1,540 150 
			 Sept 1990 2,120 250 
			 2000-01 2,470 400 
			 2010-11 3,030 480 
			 2020-21 3,800 710 
			 2030-31 5,320 1,060 
			 2040-41 6,300 1,640 
			 2050-205 7,730 2,000 
			  Notes: 1. All figures include Non-contributory Retirement Pension. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are for GB and overseas pensioners.  Sources: 1. 1980 and 1990 figures are derived from published DWP statistics. 2. 2000-01 figures are derived from bi-annual 5 per cent. statistics for March 2000, September 2000 and March 2001 appropriate for the 2000-01 financial year. 3. 2010-11 onwards figures are from the GAD model aligned to the latest data available.

Pension Credit

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents in each electoral ward in Tamworth constituency receive pension credit.

James Purnell: The information is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Pension credit beneficiaries by ward in Tamworth constituency, November 2005 
			  Ward name  Individual beneficiaries 
			 Bourne Vale 65 
			 Fazeley 340 
			 Little Aston 60 
			 Mease and Tame 150 
			 Shenstone 160 
			 Stonnall 55 
			 Arnington 340 
			 Belgrave 355 
			 Bolehall 540 
			 Castle 630 
			 Glascote 390 
			 Mercian 530 
			 Spital 465 
			 Stonydelph 305 
			 Trinity 305 
			 Wilnecote 315 
			 Tamworth Total 4,990 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five. 2. Ward totals do not sum to parliamentary constituency total due to rounding. 3. The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners.  Source:  Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Pension Credit

Jim Devine: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Livingston received pension credit in 2005.

James Purnell: The information is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Pension credit individual beneficiaries in the parliamentary constituency of Livingston by quarter, February 2005  to November 2005 
			  Quarter  Beneficiaries 
			 February 2005 4,240 
			 May 2005 5,510 
			 August 2005 5,540 
			 November 2005 5,610 
			  Notes:  1. The numbers of individual beneficiaries are rounded to the nearest ten.  2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.  3. The February 2005 figures relate to the 1997 parliamentary constituency boundaries. The figures for May 2005 onwards relate to the 2005 parliamentary constituency boundaries.  4. The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners.  5. Individual beneficiaries figures may include partners who are aged under 60.   Source:  Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Pension Credit

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioner households were receiving pension credit in West Suffolk constituency in each financial year since 2001-02.

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Pension credit recipients in the parliamentary constituency of West Suffolk since November 2003 
			  Quarter  Recipients 
			 November 2003 2,730 
			 November 2004 3,930 
			 November 2005 4,060 
			  Notes:  1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest ten.  2. Parliamentary constituency is assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.  3. Pension Credit replaced Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) on 6 October 2003.  4. Recipients are those people who claim Pension Credit either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of Pension Credit.   Source:  Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

Pension Protection Fund

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has given to the Pensions Regulator on whether the transfer of assets from a company whose pension fund was showing a deficit would be a bar to the transfer of pension liabilities to the Pension Protection Fund.

James Purnell: holding answer 16 May 2006
	None. This is a matter for the Pensions Regulator.

Pensioners

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) individual pensioners,  (b) pensioner couples and  (c) pensioner households eligible for pension credit in each (i) local authority and (ii) constituency in Scotland.

James Purnell: The information requested is not available. Estimates of eligibility are not available below the level of Great Britain.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy to reduce the number of pensioners subject to means-testing; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The proportion of pensioners entitled to income-related benefits has risen since 1997 due to our reforms which have been extremely successful in combating pensioner poverty. With respect to further reform, we shall be setting out the Government's response to the Pensions Commission's report in a White Paper very shortly.

Pensions

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will raise the level of pensions received by British pensioners resident overseas to the level received by those who remain resident in the UK.

James Purnell: The UK state pension is payable in all countries abroad to those who are entitled to it. It is uprated in the normal way for UK pensioners living overseas where there is a legal requirement or a reciprocal social security agreement to do so. We have no plans to change these arrangements.

Pensions

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on advertising the fact that people have to apply for their state pension on reaching retirement age in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

James Purnell: Four months before they reach state pension age people are normally issued with an individual invitation to apply for state pension. There is no general advertising.

Post Office Card Account

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to publish his Department's evaluation of the pilot schemes relating to post office card accounts; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: Shortly.

Unemployment

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for addressing seasonal unemployment fluctuations in seaside towns; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: Our successful labour market policies have resulted in a fall of 52 per cent. in claimant unemployment in Torbay since 1997. In addition the number of lone parents in receipt of benefit has fallen by 36 per cent. in Torbay over the same period.
	Seasonal unemployment fluctuations are however more marked in seaside towns than elsewhere. Such local economies rely on tourism to provide employment opportunities and investment in the area. This may lead to higher unemployment out of season. However, data for winter 2005 shows that the claimant count rate for Torbay was below the national average, at 2.3 per cent.
	Our recently published Green Paper 'A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work' sets out proposals for piloting new initiatives to help local partners work together to improve economic regeneration through skills, employment and health. The key aim of this initiative will be to provide a solution that offers the maximum degree of local flexibility, so that local areas can provide local solutions to local problems.

Unemployment

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proposals he has to deal with unemployment in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Latest figures show that there are more people in work than ever before. Employment now stands at 28.9 million, up by nearly 2.5 million since 1997. More than 1.5 million people have been helped into work through our new deal programmes(1), including over 660,000 young people, and our successful labour market policies have contributed to the virtual eradication of long term youth unemployment.
	With an 11.3 percentage point increase since 1997, the lone parent employment rate now stands at a record high with around a million lone parents in work, up over 300,000 since 1997. We have achieved more than 21,000 Pathways to Work job entries, and the number of recorded job entries for people with a health condition or disability has almost doubled in Pathways areas. In the 12 month period to November 2005, the number of people claiming incapacity benefits fell by 60,000.
	The unemployment rate remains close to its lowest level since 1975, but we want to go further still. Tackling worklessness and inactivityparticularly among those on benefitsremains our top priority and our Welfare Reform Green Paper sets out our proposals to build on Pathways to Work and our other successful labour market programmes. We will build on our success in cutting the numbers on lone parent and incapacity benefits, and continue to do all we can to help those claiming jobseeker's allowance back into work.
	 Note:
	Information on new deal and Pathways to Work refers to Great Britain as this Department does not deliver employment programmes in Northern Ireland.

Unsatisfactory Attendance Procedures

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) oral warnings,  (b) written warnings,  (c) dismissal decisions and  (d) retirements on medical grounds decisions were made in (i) Jobcentre Plus and (ii) his Department under his Department's unsatisfactory attendance procedures in each month in 2005.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 27 February 2006
	The best information we have available at this time is contained in the following table. The data on oral and written warnings has been extracted from the Department's Staff Information System. This system went live at the end of October 2005; prior to this, the Department did not have a single, central system which recorded warnings given. As a result, the figures for January to September may not fully represent the actual level of warnings given.
	The data on dismissals on health grounds is taken from clerical records because the Department's computerised payroll records do not differentiate between dismissals for ill health and other types of dismissal. The data on medical retirements is taken from payroll records.
	
		
			  Department for Work and Pensions 
			   Oral warnings  Written warnings  Dismissals  Ill health retirements 
			 January 158 36 52 19 
			 February 185 34 78 15 
			 March 241 52 76 23 
			 April 208 47 55 20 
			 May 293 77 55 23 
			 June 285 76 55 21 
			 July 329 87 58 18 
			 August 365 94 42 14 
			 September 406 93 56 11 
			 October 496 121 55 9 
			 November 666 132 48 14 
			 December 402 89 30 3 
			  Note:  The table for DWP includes the figures for Jobcentre Plus. 
		
	
	
		
			  Jobcentre Plus 
			   Oral warnings  Written warnings  Dismissals  Ill health retirements 
			 January 96 27 31 12 
			 February 117 22 49 10 
			 March 168 29 53 14 
			 April 124 26 29 14 
			 May 183 40 39 16 
			 June 172 46 34 13 
			 July 197 59 33 13 
			 August 227 59 24 9 
			 September 279 55 34 7 
			 October 333 72 26 5 
			 November 403 83 30 10 
			 December 257 54 16 3

Workplace Health Connect

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will report progress made on the development of Workplace Health Connect.

Anne McGuire: Workplace Health Connect was launched on 23 February 2006. The service is now up and running, providing free, impartial and practical advice and support on workplace health, safety and return to work issues to small businesses. The aim of the service is to provide employers and workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage workplace health issues for themselves.
	Workplace Health Connect is a collaborative service, set up in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive, offering a telephone Adviceline for England and Wales, and workplace visits from qualified Workplace Health Connect advisers. The workplace visits are currently available in the North East, North West, West Midlands, South Wales and Greater London, covering approximately 38 per cent. of small businesses in England and Wales.
	Owners of small businesses and their employees can access the service by calling the Workplace Health Connect Adviceline on 0845 609 6006. They can talk to an expert adviser about their own particular workplace challenges to help them find appropriate solutions.
	Further information on the service can be found at:
	www.workplacehealthconnect.co.uk and www.hse.gov.uk/workplacehealth

Workplace Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of how many days were lost due to stress in the workplace in each of the last 20 years.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The most reliable and comparable data on days lost due to stress in the workplace in Britain are provided by the surveys of self-reported work-related illness (SWI) in 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2004-05. They relate to sickness absences taken by people who believed that they were suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety and are given in the following table:
	
		
			   Estimated full day equivalent working days lost (in millions) due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety 
			 2001-02 12.9 
			 2003-04 12.8 
			 2004-05 12.8 
		
	
	Data from an earlier SWI survey in 1995 provides an estimate of 4.6 million days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in Britain. This is not comparable with later SWI survey estimates because of differences in design, coverage and the level of information collected. Indications suggest that if it was possible to put this estimate on the same basis as later SWI data it could be up to 3 to 4 million lost working days lost different. Despite this uncertainty it is clear that days lost to work-related stress, depression or anxiety were lower in 1995 than 2001-02 and subsequent years.

Young Carers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to review the eligibility of young carers undertaking more than 21 hours of supervised study to claim carers' allowance.

Anne McGuire: Carer's allowance is available to young carers aged 16 or over who undertake training or part-time education, but it is not available to those in full-time education involving 21 hours or more of supervised study a week. This is because young people aged 16 or over who remain in full-time non-advanced education are regarded as financially dependent on their parents, who can receive child benefit and child tax credits on their behalf. Support for those who choose to undertake full-time advanced education is provided by the student support system rather than by social security benefits. We keep social security rules under constant review, but we have no current plans to change the full-time education rule in carer's allowance.

Young Carers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that Jobcentre Plus supports young carers.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the former Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, on 10 March 2006,  Official Report, column 1793W.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Absenteeism

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total number of days lost due to  (a) sickness absence and  (b) unauthorised absence in (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) its non-departmental public bodies was in each year since 2000.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA was created in June 2001, and the answer given relates to full calendar years since then.
	The total number of working days lost due to sickness absence in DEFRA and its Agencies is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Department/Agency  2002  2003  2004 
			 DEFRA 89,800 60,500 56,100 
			 CEFAS 2,800 4,000 3,300 
			 CSL 4,200 4,700 4,400 
			 PSD 1,200 1,000 1,100 
			 RPA 11,900 38,900 30,600 
			 VLA 10,100 11,200 10,900 
			 VMD 800 1,000 600 
			  Note: All figures rounded to the nearest 100. 
		
	
	Statistics on the average number of working days lost per staff-year for all Government Department and Agencies each year since 1999 is published on the civil service website at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/conditions_of_service/publications/index.asp#sickness
	The Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service in 2005 is due to be published in August 2006.

Animal Welfare

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has undertaken to explore alternatives to animal testing.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA policy on using animals in research covers five main areas and is designed to:
	promote and require full compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; the 3 Rs (reduction, replacement and refinement); other relevant protective legislation; and respect for relevant advice on animal welfare (e.g. the Farm Animal Welfare Council's 'Five Freedoms');
	ensure that animals are only used in research when there are no appropriate replacement alternatives, and where the protocols applied reflect all reasonably and practically available reduction and replacement strategies to minimise any suffering that is likely to result;
	actively seek alternatives to using live animals through funding of research;
	encourage data sharing between contractors to prevent duplication of animal research and reduce numbers of experiments;
	ensure that all individuals involved in the commissioning of DEFRA-funded researchincluding DEFRA scientific and policy staff, independent advisers and research contractorsare fully aware of DEFRA's policy and approach.
	DEFRA is particularly active in looking for alternatives to using live animal experiments. Examples are:
	funding research to develop, validate and replace existing test methods which use animals with in vitro tests;
	development of non-invasive monitoring procedures to obviate the need for blood and tissue sampling;
	funding the collection and archiving of tissues from experimental animals so that these can be used in future research by the same and other researchers, thereby reducing the need for further animal experiments;
	greater use of statistical analysis of previously published animal experimental data to reduce the need for further experimentation;
	strongly encouraging contractors to publish the results of DEFRA-funded research to avoid unnecessary duplication of animal experimentation.
	Further information on DEFRA's policy on the use of animals in research can be found on our website.

Emissions Trading

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the emissions target is for carbon dioxide emissions for each EU country under the EU emissions trading scheme for 2006; and what targets are planned for each of the next five years.

Ian Pearson: The following table, published on the European Commission website(1), shows the total allowances allocated by member states for phase I (2005-07) in their national allocation plans. Most countries have allocated these allowances evenly over the three years.
	
		
			  Member state  Phase I CO 2  allowances (million tonnes)  Percentage share of EU allowances 
			 Austria 99.0 1.5 
			 Belgium 188.8 2.9 
			 Czech Republic 292.8 4.4 
			 Cyprus 16.98 0.3 
			 Denmark 100.5 1.5 
			 Estonia 56.85 0.9 
			 Finland 136.5 2.1 
			 France 469.5 7.1 
			 Germany 1,497.0 22.8 
			 Greece 223.2 3.4 
			 Hungary 93.8 1.4 
			 Ireland 67.0 1.0 
			 Italy 697.5 10.6 
			 Latvia 13.7 0.2 
			 Lithuania 36.8 0.6 
			 Luxembourg 10.7 0.2 
			 Malta 8.83 0.1 
			 Netherlands 285.9 4.3 
			 Poland 717.3 10.9 
			 Portugal 114.5 1.7 
			 Slovak Republic 91.5 1.4 
			 Slovenia 26.3 0.4 
			 Spain 523.3 8.0 
			 Sweden 68.7 1.1 
			 United Kingdom 736.0 11.2 
			 Total 6,572 100.0 
			 (1 )http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/05/84format=HTMLaged=1language=ENguiLanguage=en 
		
	
	Member states are currently preparing plans for phase II (2008-12) in which they will determine their total allocations for the five year period. European Commission guidance states that the emissions caps must use the phase I allocation as a starting point and must make steps towards each member state's Kyoto protocol target under the burden sharing agreement. Member states must submit final installation level allocation plans to the Commission by 31 December 2006.

Emissions Trading

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the yield to the Exchequer from a UK auction of 10 per cent. of allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme at a price of  (a) 10,  (b) 15,  (c) 20 and  (d) 30 euros per tonne of carbon from 2008.

Ian Pearson: The total number of allowances to be allocated in phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (2008-12) has yet to be decided. The draft UK National Allocation Plan, currently out for public consultation, explains that the final figure will represent a reduction against Business As Usual emissions of between 3 and 8 MtC a year. The projections for Business As Usual are currently being evaluated following consultation. It is not therefore possible at this stage to precisely calculate the yield from auction at these prices.

Entry Level Stewardship Scheme

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to Question  (a) 68580,  (b) 68578,  (c) 68579 and  (d) 68581, on the entry level stewardship scheme, tabled by the hon. Member for St. Ives.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 22 May 2006
	I replied to the hon. Member on the 22 May 2006.

Environmental Liability Directive

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which UK sites of special scientific interest do not fall within the scope of the environmental liability directive and would not be protected under UK implementing laws unless its scope were to be extended.

Barry Gardiner: Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) overlap with sites protected under EU legislation (council directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds; council directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora). As a result, the 25 per cent. of SSSI areas in England that are not also EU-protected sites, would not be covered by legislation implementing the environmental liability directive unless the Government exercised the discretion provided in that directive. I shall write to my hon. Friend with the detailed information.
	This is in respect of England only as policy on the environment and nature conservation is a devolved matter and therefore for the respective Administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Fisheries Agreements

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what position the UK will take on the forthcoming EU-Morocco fisheries agreement in the Western Sahara.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The UK will vote in favour of the regulation on the basis that there are no fisheries objections and that there is nothing in the regulation that is inconsistent with international law.

Fisheries Agreements

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations were made to the EU Council of Ministers opposing commercial fishing in the waters of the Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The EU Council of Ministers has not previously discussed the relevant proposal for a regulation establishing a bilateral fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco. However, it is expected that the Council will adopt this regulation on 22 May 2006. The UK will vote in favour of the regulation on the basis that there are no fisheries objections and that there is nothing in the regulation that is inconsistent with international law.

Flood Prevention

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much the chairman of the Wessex Flood Defence Committee received in travel costs in the last two years; and from what residential location his travel costs were calculated;
	(2)  how many official journeys the chairman of the Wessex Flood Defence Committee undertook in the last two years.

Ian Pearson: The Chairman of the Wessex Regional Flood Defence Committee undertook 73 official trips in 2004-05 and 48 official trips in 2005-06. His travel costs in that period totalled 7,640.
	The Chairman can claim travel and subsistence expenses incurred away from his normal place of work, and any other expenses necessarily incurred on business in line with the expenses guidance for Committee Chairmen issued by the Environment Agency.

Forest Certification

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account his Department took in deciding its policy on the programme for the endorsement of forest certification schemes of representations made by the Prime Minister of Australia to  (a) the Prime Minister and  (b) other Government Ministers.

Barry Gardiner: The UK Government's decision to wait until it reviews all the forest certification schemes it first assessed in 2004 before reaching a conclusion on the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes' amendments remains unchanged. An interim report explaining this rationale behind this decision can be seen at www.proforest.net/cpet

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support his Department is giving to the European Commission and EU Space Agency Respond Programme within the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Defra is the policy lead for the Government on the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA).
	We have been working closely with the Commission and ESA in the development of GMES and the Government has subscribed to Phase-1 of the ESA GMES Space Component Programme, which will provide satellite data for a range of GMES applications.
	We continue to take a close interest in all areas of GMES, especially the service related elements, including RESPOND.
	Defra will continue to engage with the Commission and ESA, other Government departments and UK stakeholders to ensure, as far as possible, that GMES meets UK needs at good value for money.

Greenhouse Gases

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in greenhouse gases since 1997; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change.

Ian Pearson: The following table shows UK emissions for the six greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and total emissions in million tonnes of carbon equivalent, for each year since 1997. These figures are taken from this year's UK greenhouse gas inventory.
	
		
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 CO2 149.6 150.0 147.5 149.0 153.1 148.6 151.8 152.5 
			 CH4 20.2 19.1 17.2 16.3 14.8 14.2 12.9 12.5 
			 N20 16.5 15.7 12.1 12.1 11 .5 11.0 10.9 11.1 
			 HFCs 5.2 4.7 3.0 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.4 
			 PFCs 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 SF6 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 
			 Total 191.6 189.8 180.1 180.3 182.4 177.0 178.7 179.0 
			 Percentage change since 1997 0.0 -0.9 -6.0 -5.9 -4.8 -7.6 -6.7 -6.6 
		
	
	The Government's UK Climate Change Programme, published on 28 March 2006 outlined the reasons for the reduction. The decrease in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 has mainly been driven by restructuring, especially in the energy supply industry, energy efficiency, pollution control measures in the industrial sector and other policies that reduced emissions of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse Gases

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the industries which are the 10 largest emitters of greenhouse gases; and how much and what proportion of total emissions of such gases they emitted in the last year for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory provides a specific breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions from the following industrial sectors:
	Power Generation
	Petroleum Refining
	Manufacture of Solid Fuels and other energy industries
	Iron and Steel Production
	Non Ferrous Metal Production
	Offshore Oil and Gas Extraction
	Production of Cement, lime and fletton brick
	The contribution of these processes to UK greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in millions tonnes of carbon equivalent (MtCe), and percentage of total UK greenhouse gas emissions, is given in the following table. These data are taken from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory for 2004, which is the latest year for which data are available.
	
		
			  UK greenhouse gas emissions 2004 
			  Sector  GHG emissions in 2004/MtCe  Percentage of total UK GHG emissions in 2004 
			 Power Generation 46.93 26.2 
			 Petroleum Refining 5.03 2.8 
			 Manufacture of Solid Fuels and other energy industries 2.02 1.1 
			 Non Ferrous Metals 1.04 0.6 
			 Offshore Oil and Gas 6.05 3.4 
			 Non Ferrous Metals 1.04 0.6 
			 Cement, lime and fletton brick production 3.13 1.7 
		
	
	Emissions from the chemicals industry are estimated to be of the order of 3 million tonnes of carbon per year (approximately 1.8 per cent. of total UK greenhouse gas emissions). A more precise figure for this sector will be available when European Union Emissions Trading Scheme figures for 2005 can be formally reconciled with the 2005 inventory dataset, which will be published in 2007.
	Verified emissions of UK installations included in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme are available, by sector, on the Defra website. The EU ETS covers installations responsible for approximately 50 per cent. of UK CO2 emissions.

Greenhouse Gases

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) percentage and  (b) actual change in carbon dioxide emissions was between 1990 and the most recent year for which figures are available based on (i) Kyoto Treaty criteria and (ii) Kyoto Treaty criteria together with emissions from international aviation and international shipping.

Ian Pearson: The figures requested are taken from the UK Greenhouse Gas inventory 2006 and are given in the following table. They show emissions between 1990 and 2004, the latest year for which full data are available.
	
		
			  Greenhouse gas emissions in Kyoto base year and 2004 
			  Source  Emissions in base year/MtCe( 1)  Emissions in 2004/MtCe( 1)  Absolute change/MtCe( 1)  Percentage change 
			 All emissions included under Kyoto 209.5 178.9 -30.1 -14.6 
			 Emissions of CO2 included in above 160.6 152.5 -8.1 -5.0 
			 Emissions of CO2 from international aviation 4.3 9.0 +4.7 +109 
			 Emissions of CO2 from international shipping 1.8 1.6 -0.2 -11 
			 (1) Million tonnes of Carbon equivalent

Hunting with Dogs

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many responses were received to the Government's consultation on hunting with dogs.

Barry Gardiner: The Government received over 14,000 responses to its consultation on the issue of hunting with dogs in 2002, and has received at least 14,000 further representations from members of the public on this issue since then.

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regime

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the capability of individual local authorities adequately to implement and enforce the integrated pollution prevention and control regime;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of standards of compliance with integrated pollution prevention and control SG2 for new glass-making facilities.

Ben Bradshaw: The local authority industrial pollution regimes are regularly reviewed, including local authority performance reviews. Such a review, involving just over 100 local authorities was undertaken in 2004 and a follow-up review has just been completed and the report will be published shortly.
	The Department has for the past year been working with local authority stakeholders to improve the training and competence framework for local authority personnel undertaking this work. Local authorities have regularly been made aware of the options of out-sourcing, joint working, or obtaining expert advice when carrying out these functions. I am told that Chester city council have employed consultants to assist them in determining this latest application from Quinn Glass.
	The Department encourages local authorities to share expertise and experience in regulating different sectors by establishing 'link' groups. There is such a link group for the glass manufacturing sector, the co-ordinator of which works for Barnsley metropolitan borough council. Officials in the Department keep in periodic touch with her and with the trade association, British Glass. Chester city council are a member of the group.
	The local authority unit of the Environment Agency, which advises the Department on technical issues relating to the local authority industrial pollution regimes, has met the link group and also visited glass manufacturing installations. The unit has reported back to the Department following these activities.
	I cannot comment on the recent High Court judgment because I understand that it is subject to an appeal.

Pest Control

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what provision of pest control services his Department requires of local authorities.

Ben Bradshaw: It is for local authorities to decide on the most appropriate pest control programme in their own area, while having regard to their duties under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949.

Radiative Forcing

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportionate contribution to the overall UK-attributable radiative forcing total is accounted for by  (a) residential properties,  (b) business premises,  (c) industrial processes,  (d) power generation,  (e) cars,  (f) buses and  (g) aviation; what the radiative forcing multiplier is for each category; and what the range of uncertainty is in estimates of the multiplier for each category.

Ian Pearson: Table 1 gives the contribution of each sector listed to total UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2004. The first column of numbers gives percentage contributions with emissions from power generation shown separately. The second column of numbers shows percentage contributions with emission from power generation reallocated to the sectors which use the power generated.
	The data are consistent with the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory published in 2006, which contains data to 2004, the most recent year for which data are available for all gases by sector. The aviation estimate covers domestic flights only because international aviation is not included in the UK emissions total, in accordance with international guidelines.
	The estimates include emissions from carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, the hydrofluorocarbons, the perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. Radiative forcing is accounted for by using Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) as weighting factors in adding together emissions estimates of the different gases.
	The GWPs are listed in table 2 and apply by gas and not by sector. The effect of emissions from aviation at altitude may be significantly greater than at ground level. This would increase the radiative forcing effect from aviation but there is no agreed value to account for this and it remains a matter of scientific investigation. The IPCC Third Assessment Report estimates uncertainty in the GWPs relative to carbon dioxide as +/-35 per cent.
	
		
			  Table 1: 2004 emissions of greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto protocol, by sector 
			  Percentage 
			  Sector  Proportion of total UK greenhouse gases emissions by source  Proportion of total UK greenhouse gases emissions by end user 
			 Residential Properties 14.1 24.4 
			 Business Premises 16.3 33.8 
			 Industrial Processes 2.9 3.0 
			 Power Generation 34.3  
			 Cars 11.5 14.1 
			 Buses 0.5 0.6 
			 Domestic Aviation 0.4 0.4 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: The global warming potential of greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto protocol basket 
			  Gas  Global warming potential (100 year time horizon) 
			 Carbon dioxide 1 
			 Methane 21 
			 Nitrous Oxide 310 
			 Hydrofluorocarbons 140-11,700 
			 Perfluorocarbons 6,500-9,200 
			 Sulphur hexafluoride 23,900

Tallow

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why his Department banned the use of tallow as a fuel; whether a similar ban is being introduced in all countries of the EU; what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the cost of this measure to  (a) the rendering industry and  (b) the farming industry in removing fallen stock.

Ian Pearson: My Department has not banned the use of tallow as fuel, so no assessments of this kind have been made.
	The effect of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR) is to require a range of animal by-products, and substances derived from them (e.g. tallow), to be disposed of as waste. Where the method of disposal is incineration or co-incineration (i.e. use as a fuel), the ABPR requires it to be carried out in compliance with the Waste Incineration. Directive (WID). Installations may burn tallow provided they comply with these requirements. The ABPR is directly applicable in all EU member states.
	In response to representations by the UK Government, the European Commission has set up a study to help establish whether such controls are proportionate and necessary to the protection of the environment. The study is expected to report by the autumn, and the Government are pressing the Commission for the study to be completed as soon as possible.

CABINET OFFICE

Diversity Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the contribution of diversity training across Government to the efficient development of Government policy; and if she will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Diversity training plays a key role in raising awareness of diversity and equality issues among staff. It is the responsibility of individual Departments to decide on their approach to diversity training and, as with all training, evaluate its effectiveness and impact on organisational performance. There is no centrally collated information on this.

Russell Commission

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which company was used to recruit the chairman of the Russell Commission.

Hilary Armstrong: Following a competitive tender exercise under Office of Government Commerce (OGC) best practice guidance, Veredus was selected to recruit the chairman, chief executive and board members for v.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Anti-Semitism

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-Semitic incidents were reported in each police force area in England in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: The police treat anti-Semitic incidents as racist incidents. Their definition when recording such incidents is:
	any incident which is regarded as racist by the victim or any other person.
	This is the definition recommended by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. The statistics available centrally do not distinguish between religiously and racially aggravated crime, or, more specifically, anti-semitic incidents.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) EU foreign nationals and  (b) non-EU foreign nationals have been employed in his Department in each of the last five years; what vetting procedures are in place for each category of staff; and whether these include liaison with foreign law enforcement agencies.

Liam Byrne: The Department only collects data on non-EU nationals. In the past five financial years we have employed two non-EU nationals; one in 2003-04 and one in 2004-05. All candidates are subject to the same pre-appointment checks regardless of nationality. Our pre-appointment checks ensure that we only select those that pass eligibility in accordance with the Cabinet Office nationality requirementswww.civilservice.gov.uk\nationality. The need for an individual to undergo national security vetting, and the level of vetting that is appropriate, will depend on the particular post they are going to fill. Where necessary, this will include a check of time spent overseas.

Domestic Violence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females have reported a physical assault by a (i) current and (ii) former partner in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence against men and women (but not on the actual number of victims), but this is not broken down by whether the perpetrator is a current or former partner.
	The British Crime Survey (BCS) also collects information on whether victims report crimes to the police, but this is not broken down by victim's sex or by whether it was a domestic violence incident or not. Reporting rates for 2004-05 are available from the latest annual crime statistics publication.
	The 2004-05 British Crime Survey estimated that there were, in total 308,000 incidents of domestic violence against women in England and Wales, and 92,000 against men. The number of incidents of domestic violence as measured by the BCS has decreased by 48 per cent. from 1999 to 2004-05 BCS interviews.
	The BCS figures are estimates only. As they are derived from a sample they are subject to sampling error, also the context of the face-to-face BCS interview means the estimates are certain to be underestimates of the true extent due to the fact that some respondents may be unwilling to reveal experience of domestic violence to interviewers. To address this, self-completion components for those aged 16-59 on domestic violence have been included in the 1996, 2001, 2004-05, and 2005-06 BCS. Results from the 2001 BCS self-completion module on domestic violence were published in Home Office Research Study No. 276. According to this more confidential approach to measurement prevalence (per cent. of population victim at least once) rates for last year domestic assault were approximately five times higher than in the main face-to-face BCS. Also according to this report, 80 per cent. of the domestic violence incidents suffered by women in the 12 months prior to interview were from current spouses or partners, and 20 per cent. from ex-spouses/partners. The respective figures for men were 86 and 14 per cent. It also showed that the police came to know about the (worst) incident of domestic violence suffered in the 12 months prior to interview in 23 per cent. of cases suffered by women, and 8 per cent. of cases suffered by men. Overall, in 72 per cent. of the cases that the police came to know about, the victim reported it (rather than someone else such as family member or friend, or police came to know about in another way).
	
		
			  Number of BCS incidents of domestic violence, 1999 to 2004-05 
			  Thousand 
			  England and Wales  Women  Men 
			 1999 560 194 
			 2001-02 ints 514 122 
			 2002-03 ints 366 135 
			 2003-04 ints 298 150 
			 2004-05 ints 308 92 
			  Sources:  2000, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 British Crime Surveys

Electronic Monitoring

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been subject to electronic monitoring in each year since 1999; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Figures are available for the financial year 1998-99 onwards and are presented in the following table:
	
		
			   Number monitored 
			 1998-99 3,503 
			 1999-2000 19,073 
			 2000-01 19,962 
			 2001-02 21,796 
			 2002-03 37,924 
			 2003-04 46,472 
			 2004-05 53,230 
			 2005-06 54,329 
			 Total 256,289 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for 1998-99 are from 28 January 1999. 2. Figures for 2005-06 are until 28 February 2006. 3. The number monitored is the number of new starts on electronic monitoring, rather than the caseload at any one time.

Feltham Young Offenders Institution

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how often psychiatric risk assessment tests are conducted on inmates at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution;
	(2)  what proportion of offenders at Feltham Young Offenders Institution are recognised as having  (a) mild and  (b) severe psychiatric disorders;
	(3)  what post-release psychiatric care prisoners receive who have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders whilst detained at Feltham Young Offenders Institution.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the frequency of psychiatric risk tests at Feltham Young Offenders Institution is not collected centrally. Although inmates may be referred to the community mental health in-reach team, in line with national policy, information is not then collected that would allow a count of the number of psychiatric risk assessment tests that are carried out.
	Information on the proportion of offenders with psychiatric disorders at Feltham is not available centrally.
	On release, offenders who meet the appropriate criteria are subject to the care programme approach, and leave prison with a full care plan for their future mental health care.

Firearms

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used in drawing up proposals  (a) to restrict the use of .338 and .50 calibre rifles and  (b) to ban the use of semi-automatic shotguns and .22 calibre weapons.

Tony McNulty: Proposals are based on a recommendations by the Firearms Consultative Committee that weapons of excessive power, including those chambered for .50 calibre BMG rounds, should not be permitted for target shooting.

Identity Cards

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued on the level of facial recognition required for wearers of burkas and other facial coverings applying for  (a) an identity card and  (b) a travel freedom pass.

Joan Ryan: The identity card will be an international travel document and will have to comply with passport photograph standards, which require a full-face image. Enrolment facilities will be designed so that this can be handled sensitively.
	The freedom pass is managed by the Association of London Government on behalf of all London councils, not by the Home Office.

Identity Cards

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2006,  Official Report, column 758W, on identity cards, whether the second identity card issued to the same standard but not for the purposes of travel will be issued automatically; and whether a charge will be imposed.

Joan Ryan: Arrangements regarding the surrender of an identity card valid for travel by an individual subject to a football banning order will be specified closer to the time of introduction of identity cards. An identity card which will not be valid for travel will be issued to the same standard as a card which will be valid for travel.

Identity Theft

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of identity theft were recorded in  (a) Suffolk and  (b) the East of England in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is not available centrally. Offences of identity theft cannot be separately identified in the recorded crime series.

Illegal Vehicles

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional powers have been made available for  (a) police officers and  (b) local authorities to confiscate (i) illegal off-road vehicles and (ii) untaxed motor vehicles since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 empowers the police to seize vehicles being driven inconsiderately or carelessly on road contrary to section three of the Road Traffic Act 1988, or off-road without authority, contrary to sections 34 of the Act if at the same time they are being driven in such a manner as to cause or be likely to cause alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public.
	Section 152 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, creates a power for the police to seize immediately vehicles, including off-road vehicles, which are detected being used on the road by someone who does not have appropriate insurance or driving licence.
	The Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 1997 authorise the clamping and impounding of unlicensed vehicles on the public road. Regulation three allows the Secretary of State to authorise local authorities, police forces or any other person to use these powers.
	Sections 79 to 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 empower local authorities to seize off-road vehicles causing a noise nuisance. Since 1997 local authorities have acquired no other vehicle seizure powers.

Independent Monitoring Boards

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the performance of each Independent Monitoring Board; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Each Independent Monitoring Board's annual report provides detail and analysis of Board activity during the year as well as the Board's observations of issues of concern and good practice in the running of the prison or immigration removal centre. In addition Boards undertake an annual team performance review, an exercise that involves all members in taking stock of the Board's performance over a period of time to identify good practice and recognise where there is scope for improvement.

Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received about the operation of sections 4, 4A, 4B and 4C of the Theft Act 1968; and whether he has plans to amend this Act.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have not received any representations recently about the operation of any part of section four of the Theft Act 1968. I have no current plans to amend this part of the 1968 Act.

MI5 (Northern Ireland)

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any  (a) disciplinary and  (b) criminal investigations are under way into the failure of MI5 to pass threat information to the Police Service of Northern Ireland on a possible bombing at Omagh prior to 15 August 1998.

John Reid: There are no such investigations.
	The Chief Constable, for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, made it clear in his statement of 1 March to the Policing Board that the Security Service did not withhold intelligence that was relevant or that would have progressed the Omagh inquiry.

Motoring Offences

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the police take to contact insurers to trace the owners of vehicles wanted for moving road traffic offences.

Vernon Coaker: The police have access to the motor insurers' database. What further investigation they undertake is an operational matter for individual chief officers.

National Criminal Intelligence Service

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what complaints were received about the recruitment process for National Criminal Intelligence Service posts at the new regional office in Belfast advertised in autumn 2003; and what changes have been implemented as a result.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 24 April 2006
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Dodds) on 9 January 2006,  Official Report, column 377W.

National Hi-Tech Crime Unit

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to replace the contact service formerly provided via the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit website.

Vernon Coaker: The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), as part of the National Crime Squad, became part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on 1 April 2006 and now operates under the title of SOCA e-Crime.
	The NHTCU was never a crime recording centre and always requested members of the public to contact their local police force. The NHTCU provided a website that contained a great deal of advice relating to harm reduction and awareness surrounding the use of computers and the internet. The content of the website has been saved and discussion is ongoing as to the most appropriate location for this to be available. Organisations and members of the public who wish to report a crime should continue to contact their local police force in the normal way.

National Identity Register

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there exists a prohibition in law on supplying data from the National Identity Register to a foreign government for purposes connected with  (a) national security and  (b) the prevention and detection of crime.

Joan Ryan: Section 18 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 allows information to be provided to overseas authorities, for example law enforcement agencies, for the purposes of criminal proceedings and investigations, as provided for in section 17 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. This is subject to safeguards provided in section 21 of the Identity Cards Act and section 18 of the 2001 Act. Other than that, there is no provision, or power to make provision, in the Identity Cards Act for information from the NIR to be provided, without consent, overseas.

National Identity Register

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Identity Register will include information and data supplied by  (a) the Valuation Office Agency,  (b) Ordnance Survey,  (c) HM Revenue and Customs,  (d) electoral registers held by local authorities and  (e) the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors.

Joan Ryan: The National Identity Register will not be an amalgam of information held on existing Government databases. It is intended to be populated with identity information provided by applicants as they apply for an identity card, either as an individual card or in conjunction with an application for a designated document.
	Section 9 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 does permit the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to verify identity information provided by applicants against data held by other organisations as part of the enrolment process, subject to secondary legislation. Details of such steps to validate the information provided by applicants and its results may be held on the National Identity Register, as stated in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 of the Act. However, as stated, such checks cannot occur unless they have received the prior approval of Parliament in secondary legislation under the affirmative resolution procedures.
	IPS is currently working with other Government Departments, including Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to identify which government data sources would provide the most accurate verification of identity information provided by applicants. Ordnance Survey information may be used as a secondary check to verify that an address provided by an applicant exists.
	It is also possible that data sources used as part of this check may in turn have verified their data through conducting a check against electoral roll registers. For example, the Personal Information Process being introduced to validate passport applications includes a check of identity information against credit reference agency records, which were checked against information on electoral registers.
	However, there are no plans to verify identity information provided by applicants with information held by the Valuation Office Agency or the proposed Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors.

National Identity Register

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what secure remote authentication in connection with the National Identity Register will be available over the  (a) telephone and  (b) internet; and what technological options have been proposed for these purposes.

Joan Ryan: At present, the Identity and Passport Service is working with experts to review various alternatives that allow the implementation of secure remote authentication. This includes research into the concept of a 'challenge response' process, which allows for the generation of a one-off password for a person to use in a single transaction.
	However, the purpose of this research is to inform requirement setting as the National Identity Scheme prepares for the start of a procurement process as well as to provide a basis on which to judge solutions proposed by potential suppliers.
	Thus, as it will be for bidders to propose technical options that meet the Scheme's requirements for secure remote authentication, no definitive options have been proposed, nor can they be, until the procurement process is underway.

Offences Against the Person Act

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances an offender found guilty of an offence under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 would be released from prison without  (a) consultation with the police and  (b) supervision; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The police are routinely informed of the release of all prisoners. Police are partners in multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), which are statutory arrangements operated by criminal justice and social care agencies to manage serious sexual and violent offenders and protect the public. The police are therefore involved in the management of potentially dangerous offenders, generally those sentenced to 12 months or more for a sexual or violent offence. All fixed-term prisoners serving 12 months or more, or aged less than 22 years at the point of release, and all prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence are subject to statutory supervision upon release. The only exception is the small number of prisoners released at the end of their custodial term under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1967.

Parking Fines

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Government have made of the total revenue raised from parking fines in England in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the total revenue from parking fines is not collected centrally.
	However estimates are given in the table based on information collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of fixed penalties issued and fines given at court for 2004 (latest available). This information is published in the Home Office publication Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales Supplementary tables. Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
	The Court Proceedings Database and the Fixed Penalty Notices collection do not distinguish between obstruction, waiting and parking contraventions. The decision as to whether to issue a fixed penalty notice is a matter for the police and where the offence is decriminalised, a matter for the local authority.
	Not all fines and fixed penalties will have been paid.
	Information for 2005 will be available early in 2007.
	Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) powers allow local authorities to take over responsibility for enforcing parking contraventions from the police. Not all local authorities operate decriminalised parking enforcements so such data on fixed penalty charges issued under DPE powers are not included within the table. Data on penalty charge notices (PCNs) from local authorities operating Decriminalised Parking Enforcement can be found in the Home Office publication Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales 2004, Supplementary tables. The latest publication 2004 (Tables 22(a)-22(b)) lists data by local authorities partaking in the scheme. Copies of the publication are available in the Library. The publication can also be accessed on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics (RDS) website.

Parole

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many convicted murderers released on parole in each of the last 15 years have broken the terms of their release;
	(2)  how many convicted rapists released on parole in each of the last 15 years have subsequently broken the terms of their release;
	(3)  how many convicted burglars released on parole in each of the last 15 years have subsequently broken the terms of their release.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the number of convicted rapists and convicted burglars released on parole in each of the last six years who have subsequently been recalled is provided in the following table. This information is as recorded on the Prison Service IT system. Information prior to 1999-2000 is only available at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of murderers released on life licence who have subsequently been recalled is available only at disproportionate cost. Table 10.9 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004 gives the number of recalls from life licence (for any offence) between 1999 and 2004.
	
		
			  Number of recalls of determinate sentenced prisoners of four years or more released on parolerape and burglary 
			   Rape  Burglary 
			 1999-2000 8 41 
			 2000-01 7 27 
			 2001-02 13 52 
			 2002-03 15 74 
			 2003-04 16 97 
			 2004-05 17 110

Passports

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many passport applications were refused on the grounds of the inability of the applicant to produce his or her father's marriage certificate in each of the last three years for which figures are available;
	(2)  when he plans to review the documentation requirements for the issue of new 10-year passports.

Joan Ryan: The documentation required from passport applicants is that which establishes the person's claim to British nationality. For persons born in the UK since the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force on 1 January 1983, this depends on a parent having been a British citizen or settled in the UK at the time of the birth. The Act provides that for the purposes of determining British nationality, the relationship of father and child shall be taken to exist only between a man and any legitimate child born to him. Therefore a passport applicant who wishes to establish that he is a British citizen because his or her father was a British citizen when the applicant was born needs to provide his or her father's marriage certificate. To establish the number of applications which were unsuccessful because this certificate could not be provided would require a search of individual case records and could not be done without disproportionate expense.
	This provision of the 1981 Act is to be amended by Section nine of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 when that provision is brought into force but it will not apply retrospectively. This will extend the definition of father for the purposes of the 1981 Act to include any person who satisfies prescribed requirements as to proof of paternity. The requirements for passport applications will be reviewed when this change in the law on nationality comes into effect.

Passports

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British passports have been issued in each of the last five years.

Joan Ryan: The number of British passports issued for each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Financial Year  Issued by IPS  Issued by FCO  Total 
			 2001-02 5,588,550 460,000 6,048,550 
			 2002-03 5,354,348 465,000 5,819,348 
			 2003-04 5,723,473 447,000 6,170,473 
			 2004-05 6,031,325 453,000 6,484,325 
			 2005-06 6,453,095 460,000 6,913,095

Passports

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Passports were reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Joan Ryan: It is not possible for the UK Passport Service to identify exactly how many passports were reportedly lost or stolen in Northern Ireland. However, the Belfast passport office, which serves the Northern Ireland area, processed the following reports of  (a) loss and  (b) theft of a passport for the calendar years of 2004, 2005 and 2006 to date.
	
		
			   Belfast 
			   Lost  Stolen 
			 2004 9,496 1,959 
			 2005 9,615 1,117 
			 2006 (to date) 3,615 402 
		
	
	The total figures across the UK for the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			   Lost  Stolen  Other  Total 
			 2003(1)184,301 
			 2004 212,745 50,737 11,558 275,040 
			 2005 230,011 45,709 11,268 286,988 
			 2006 83,289 14,328 (2)4,064 101,681 
			 (1) Combined total (2) To date

People Trafficking

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by his Department to tackle organised criminal gangs engaged in trafficking.

Vernon Coaker: The Government set up the Serious Organised Crime Agency with effect from 1 April 2006 to prevent and detect serious organised crime, and to reduce the harm it causes. Among its top priorities are tackling class A drugs trafficking and organised immigration crime. Also with effect from 1 April 2006 we introduced new powers to:
	compel individuals to produce documents and provide explanations;
	offer sentence reductions or immunity from prosecution to offenders who co-operate against their criminal colleagues.
	We continue to tackle trafficking through Reflex, a multi-agency task force aimed at tackling organised immigration crime. In February, a Reflex funded multi-agency initiative, Operation Pentameter, was launched to tackle the trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation. All UK police forces and the Immigration Service have been involved in this initiative which has already made a real impact and to date has rescued 75 women from traffickers and made 180 arrests.

Police Community Support Officers

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers have been recruited in  (a) Cheshire and  (b) Warrington in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Tony McNulty: Information relating to the number of full-time equivalent police community support officers (PCSOs) in each police force area have been collected by RDS since 2003 and is provided in the table.
	Data on PCSOs within Basic Command Units (BCU) is only collected annually. As at 30 June 2005, the Northern Area of Cheshire constabulary, which includes Warrington, had 46 PCSOs.
	Deployment of PCSOs within Cheshire Division is an operational matter for the Divisional Commander.
	
		
			  Police community support officer strength in Cheshire, (2003-05) 
			   Cheshire( 1) 
			 As at 31 March 2003 2 
			 As at 31 March 2004 50 
			 As at 30 September 2004 47 
			 As at 31 March 2005 81 
			 As at 30 September 2005 77 
			 (1) The figures in this table are based on full-time equivalent figures including staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave, and have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Police Stations/Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for constructing new police stations in Greater London.

Tony McNulty: Decisions whether or not to construct new police buildings in London are for the City of London as police authority for the City and for the Metropolitan Police Authority for Greater London.

Police Stations/Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police vehicles were stationed in  (a) Romford,  (b) Havering and  (c) Greater London in each of the last eight years, broken down by vehicle type.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of entrants to each prison had  (a) drug and  (b) mental health problems in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the extent of  (a) drug and  (b) mental health problems in each prison; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The proportion of entrants to each prison with  (a) drug and  (b) mental health problems is not collated. Instead NOMS relies on epidemiological surveys which show that:
	 (a) around 55 per cent. of those received into prison report a serious drug problem, with 80 per cent. reporting some misuse prior to prison;
	 (b) 90 per cent. of prisoners have a least one mental health disorder (ONS survey of mental ill health in the prison population in England and Wales 1997).
	The extent of  (a) drug and  (b) mental health problems is not collected in each prison but is a direct reflection of those entering prison.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of prison education schemes; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has to extend the range of vocational training and provision in prisons; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will review the methods for initial assessment of prisoners' educational needs to take account of how progression is encouraged, supported and realised; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what plans he has to change the formal curriculum for prisoner education; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what steps he is taking to ensure integrated management of learning in prisons; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what action  (a) his Department and  (b) the Prison Service is taking to promote learning in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: On 15 December 2005, my Department, together with the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions, published the Green Paper Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment. The document sets out a strategy for concerted action to improve offenders' skills and job prospects, including through better quality education and training.
	The Green Paper makes clear that delivery of learning and skills for all offenders is changing, with the Learning and Skills Council taking responsibility for its planning and funding. This new role introduces a number of substantial changes, including an early, significant focus on assessing the offender learner's needs, and recording them on an Individual Learning Plan that will follow the offender as they progress through the criminal justice system. The Individual Learning Plan will encourage, support and record progress.
	A new, broader curriculum for offender learners supports the new delivery arrangements, setting out clear quality requirements and a strong focus on learning needs that will help more offenders into suitable and sustained jobs by meeting the needs of employers. A juvenile version of the curriculum acknowledges the specific needs of younger learners.
	A Head of Learning and Skillswho is a member of the establishment's senior management teamoversees delivery of the learning and skills arrangements in each prison. Heads of Learning and Skills work closely with the Learning and Skills Council and with the Regional Offender Manager.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the level of contraband in each prison; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what quantities of  (a) mobile phones,  (b) drugs and  (c) alcohol have been found in each prison in each month over the last year; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: An item of contraband is any item or article that a prison governor identifies or considers to pose a risk to security or the good order of the prison. Contraband does not form a specific group on the Incident Reporting System (IRS). In the last two months alone, 394 miscellaneous incidents were recorded on IRS a small proportion of these incidents relate to contraband, analysing this would be at a disproportionate cost.
	Information on the level of restricted items in each prison is not collated centrally. However, the number of drug incidents, finds of mobile phones (and associated equipment) and alcohol (including home brewed alcohol) are detailed in tables placed in the Libraries of the House.

Prisons

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners underwent treatment for drugs dependence in  (a) Kingston upon Hull North constituency,  (b) the Humberside police area and  (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Figures for prisoners undergoing drug treatment in each of the last five years are given in the following table.
	There are no prisons in  (a) Kingston upon Hull North constituency. Figures for programme completion were not collected prior to 2004-05.
	
		
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06( 1) 
			  Humberside police area( 2)  
			 CARATs 943 1,527 1,625 1,497 1,787 
			 Detox 1,194 1,236 1,676 1,462 1,389 
			 Programmes entrants 72 102 95 105 319 
			 completions n/a n/a n/a 68 247 
			   
			  England and Wales  
			 CARATs 39,338 51,896 54,125 59,025 74,588 
			 Detox 41,765 50,701 57,891 53,903 53,323 
			 Programmes entrants 4,691 4,386 4,703 7,609 10,729 
			 completions n/a n/a n/a 4,902 8,036 
			 (1) Provisional  (2 )HMP Hull, HMP Everthorpe, HMP Wolds and HMP Full Sutton

Prisons

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent at each prison by the Prison Service on drug treatments in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Individual prison drug treatment spend is not recorded centrally. Prisons have instead focused on drug treatment delivery against high-level targets. Additional drug treatment funding allocated to prisons globally over the past five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   million 
			  Intervention  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Clinical services (detoxification and/or maintenance-prescribing) 7.30 7.30 11.30 11.30 11.30 
			 CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice  Through-care services) 12.91 14.30 17.40 23.20 26.70 
			 Drug rehabilitation programmes 7.09 7.10 9.00 13.90 19.40 
			 Juvenile substance-misuse service (JSMS)2.30 3.10 
			 Total 27.30 28.70 37.70 50.70 60.50

Prisons

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual cost was of keeping a category A prisoner in gaol in the last year for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Prison Service does not collect cost data by prisoner security classification but by cost per classification of prison establishment. The cost of keeping a prisoner in a high security prison during the 2004-05 was 47,513.
	This information is contained in the Prison Service annual report and accounts for 2004-05, a copy of which is in the Library of the House or can be viewed via the Service's website www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to improve the take-up of correspondence courses in prisons.

Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1851W.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on provision for vulnerable prisoners at HM Prison Lewes of offending behaviour programmes.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Vulnerable prisoners held at Lewes prison are housed on F wing which closes later this year for refurbishment. The number of vulnerable prisoners held at Lewes will be substantially reduced to around 40 and none will be eligible for the Sex Offenders Treatment Programme (SOTP). Since December 2002 this treatment has been provided at Maidstone and Elmley with Lewes as the feeder establishment working together to assess and prepare sex offenders to undertake treatment. Following refurbishment in 2008 it is expected that Lewes will no longer house a vulnerable prisoner population.
	The vulnerable prisoner unit at Lewes is supported by the area psychology team and staff working on the unit are SOTP awareness trained. Prisoners are assessed and, if ready and suitable, are transferred to Elmley or Maidstone where specialist cognitive behavioural courses are available. Since 2004 the prisoners addressing substance related offending (PASRO) course has been available at Lewes and will continue.

Probation Service

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has received to support his conclusion that there will be benefits to  (a) offenders,  (b) the public purse and  (c) communities of realising the proposals for changes to the structures and role of the Probation Service; and if he will meet representatives of the National Association of Probation Officers to discuss that evidence.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In October 2005 the Government published a consultation paper, Restructuring Probation to Reduce Re-offending, which set out proposals for the introduction of commissioning and contestability in the provision of probation services. This document was accompanied by a Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment which set out the benefits these proposals are expected to deliver and why.
	Trade Union representatives, including from NAPO, have access to ministers and senior officials through the Stakeholder Forum and the Joint Council, as well as bi-lateral meetings. In addition there are scheduled regular meetings of the Probation Service's Consultative Council, which includes officials and the three probation trade unions:
	NAPO;
	Unison;
	GMB (Scoop).

Probation Service

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many expressions of interest he has received from  (a) private companies,  (b) not-for-profit and voluntary organisations and  (c) faith-based organisations on obtaining contracts for the end-to-end management of offenders.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are a number of established fora through which the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) engages with NOMS service providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Through these contacts, some expressions of interest in providing future NOMS services have been received from providers of all sectors. However these indications have been informal and non-specific in nature and therefore at this time, clarity as to the commercial and legal status of these organisations has not been obtained. In due course a more formal process will be undertaken in accordance with European Union procurement rules.

Reoffending

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of criminals re-offended within  (a) 12 months,  (b) 24 months and  (c) 36 months of their original conviction in (i) England and Wales and (ii) Hartlepool constituency in 2005-06.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not available.
	The most recent information on the re-offending of adults in England and Wales was published in December as 'Adult re-offending: results from the 2002 cohort'. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 25/05'. The report is available on line at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb2505.pdf and covers offenders starting community sentences or being discharged from prison in the first quarter of 2002. Table A1 shows the re-offending rate for adults at 12 months and 24 months.
	Re-offending data are not routinely collected on a sub-national basis, nor are they available for periods of over 24 months.

Road Traffic Offences

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence defendants are entitled to receive in relation to penalties or prosecutions for allegedly driving in a bus lane; if he will list the occasions when a penalty notice has been wrongly sent in each of the last five years for which information is available; what advice he issues to individuals who have been wrongly accused of driving in a bus lane; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Outside London, the police are at present solely responsible for the enforcement of bus lane infringements in England and Wales. Civil enforcement is expected to begin in some areas in the autumn. Suspected offenders will be told that a vehicle of which they are the registered keeper has been detected committing a bus lane offence. The provision of further information is a matter for individual chief officers of police. Guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers is that the registered keeper or person named by the keeper as driver at the time of the alleged offence should be allowed to view photographic evidence on request. Any person who receives a fixed penalty notice for a bus lane offence and wishes to dispute the alleged offence is required to request a court hearing, the procedure for which is explained on the notice. If a case went to court, the prosecution would have to furnish the evidence to support the proceedings and relevant material would be disclosed under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act.
	In London, the police can still enforce bus lane infringements if they consider it appropriate. Most enforcement is however undertaken by Transport for London and the London boroughs under the overall co-ordination of the Association of London Government's Transport and Environmental Committee (ALGTEC). Recipients of penalty charge notices issued for bus lane offences are entitled to view the record of the contravention free of charge at the offices of the issuing authority. Alternatively a copy of the recording can be provided at a small cost. Penalty charge notices describe the procedure for making representations against a notice to the enforcing authority and for appealing to adjudicators.
	Information is not held centrally on the number of occasions when a penalty charge notice or a fixed penalty notice has been issued in error.

Security Industry

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 22 February from Mr. Patrick Somerville of the International Professional Security Association on the implementation of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

Vernon Coaker: Mr. Somerville was sent a reply on 11 May.

Security Industry

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed by the Security Industry Authority to process licences.

Vernon Coaker: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has contracted out the checking and processing of licence applications to BT who is their managed service provider. The final decision to grant or refuse a licence is then made by SIA staff. A mix of permanent and temporary staff is employed to manage the volume variations caused by the late response of the security industry to the introduction of licensing. To help manage the late rush of application the SIA have opened two temporary processing units, one managed by BT and one by the SIA. In total there are 186 staff employed by BT and the SIA to deliver licensing to applicants.

Sentencing

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the criminal offences for which people can be sentenced to prison terms of up to two years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Victim Support Compensation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to include access to victim support compensation payments for victims of offences that result in a caution to the perpetrator.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No plans are needed. Such victims are already eligible for compensation provided the injury is sufficiently serious to qualify for the minimum award payable under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS).
	The standard of proof required by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) in determining claims under the Scheme is 'the balance of probabilities'. That is the standard of proof required in the civil courts. For CICS purposes, that means it is not necessary for the offender to have been convicted of the crime causing the injury, and compensation may be paid in cases where the offender is not caught or even identified.

Violent Crime

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to tackle violent crime in Coventry, South and the Midlands.

Tony McNulty: The Government are currently taking forward a very full range of work which will continue to reduce violent crime.
	Through the Tackling Violent Crime Programme (TVCP), we are working intensively with practitioners in a small number of local areas with high volumes of more serious violent crimein particular alcohol-related and domestic violencewith a view to identifying, developing, disseminating and embedding good practice. Activities to tackle alcohol-related disorder have included intervening early in the evening with a view to preventing the escalation of violence, and conducting multi-agency visits to problem licensed premises. We are working to improve investigation of domestic violence with a view to bringing more domestic violence offences to justice.
	In the Midlands, Coventry is one of the areas that has been involved in the TVCP (along with Wolverhampton and Nottingham) and two more areas (Birmingham, and Leicester) are due to join the programme over the next couple of months. In addition, the regional Government office for the West Midlands is planning a regional TVCP in up to 11 areas during 2006-07.
	Coventry has an existing specialist domestic violence court and is included in the Specialist Domestic Violence Court Programme's roll out plan to implement the nationally agreed core components of a specialist domestic violence court system across all of West Midlands over the coming year.
	We are introducing new measures which will give police and local communities the powers they need to tackle guns, knives and alcohol-related violence in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill which is currently before Parliament, and, for example, plans have been developed with the Association of Chief Police Officers for a nation-wide knife amnesty, which will begin in late May.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Advertising

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on advertising by his Department in each of the last three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: DfES expenditure on advertising for the last three years is set out as follows:
	
		
			   Advertising spend ( million) 
			 2003-04 17.0 
			 2004-05 11.8 
			 2005-06(1) 8.3 
			 (1) Formal departmental resource accounts for 2005-06 are not yet finalised.   Note:  All expenditure is exclusive of VAT.

Blind and Partially Blind Children

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the statutory provisions relating to the teaching of blind and partially blind children; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: Local authorities have important and extensive duties to identify, assess and make provision for children with special educational needs, including blind and partially blind children, and to keep their arrangements for doing so under review. Schools, early education settings, local authorities and others must have regard to the special educational needs code of practice, which gives guidance on carrying out their statutory duties under the 1996 Education Act.
	The Government published in February 2004 its SEN strategy Removing Barriers to Achievement, which sets out a long-term programme to improve SEN provision and to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEN. As part of this strategy, the Department is promoting more consistent practice through a team of national SEN advisers.
	In addition to holding qualified teacher status, a person employed by a school as a teacher of a class of pupils with a visual impairment is required by regulations to hold an additional specialist qualification, approved by the Secretary of State, known as a mandatory qualification.

Chat Rooms

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to seek to introduce measures to ensure that where chat room moderators are employed outside the jurisdiction of UK courts this is displayed on the relevant site.

Parmjit Dhanda: Under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill currently before Parliament, people will be barred where they present a risk of harm to children and/or vulnerable adults. The Bill makes it a requirement for chat-room moderators operating in England and Wales to be vetted.
	We will continue to work with representatives of the industry in the Home Office's Internet Task Force to support the industry's approach to maintaining the highest standards of safeguarding. This might include an indication of the standards used by UK-based providers.

Child Protection

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1630W, on sex offender vetting, if he will take steps to agree with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Home Office procedures to enable local councillors and police authorities to bar councillors on the sex offenders register from access to local authority schools and vulnerable adults; what discussions have taken place on the subject; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: Under the new vetting and barring scheme, people will be barred where they present a risk of harm to children or vulnerable adults. Inclusion on the sex offenders register will be one of the reasons for barring. The police and local authorities will be required to provide relevant information to the scheme, on which the Independent Barring Board may decide to place that individual on the children's or vulnerable adults' barred list. Inclusion on the children's list would prevent the individual from working closely with children including frequently working in key children's establishments such as local authority schools or holding positions of authority in relation to children such as local councillors with responsibilities in relation to children's services.

Departmental Credit Cards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what facility is available for senior civil servants in his Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department.

Bill Rammell: Government Procurement Cards are available for use by any member of Departmental staff with purchasing responsibilities. In addition, the Private Office team also have access to Company Barclaycards for members of their staff. The Department has utilised the national framework contracts established by OGCBuying.Solutions in setting up these card schemes.

Disabled Children

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of children of each  (a) sex and  (b) ethnic group with a disability.

Parmjit Dhanda: Currently, the Department collects information about the numbers of pupils in the country with different types of special educational need (SEN) but specific information on pupils with a disability is not collected.
	Many pupils identified as having SEN will also be disabled as the definition of SEN includes:
	Children who have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority
	Work is in progress to identify a common disability data set that can be used to collect information across children's services to better inform planning, policy development and the monitoring of outcomes for disabled children.
	Information given in the following table shows numbers of pupils of each sex and ethnic group who have special educational needs (SEN):
	
		
			  Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number of pupils with special educational needs by ethnic group( 2, 3) January 2006( 4) , England 
			   Pupils of compulsory school age and above 
			   Maintained Primary  Maintained Secondary 
			   Pupils with SEN without statement( 5)  Pupils with statements of SEN  Pupils with SEN without statement( 5)  Pupils with statements of SEN 
			   Number ( 5)  Percentage ( 6)  Number  Percentage ( 7)  Number ( 5)  Percentage ( 6)  Number  Percentage ( 7) 
			 White 531,440 19.5 49,650 1.8 415,500 15.0 63,040 2.3 
			 White British 507,640 19.4 47,930 1.8 400,340 15.0 61,170 2.3 
			 Irish 2,460 20.0 260 2.1 1,830 14.9 290 2.4 
			 Traveller of Irish Heritage 1,750 57.7 80 2.5 490 46.0 70 6.8 
			 Any other White Background 17,090 19.4 1,240 1.4 11,880 15.8 1,330 1.8 
			 Gypsy/Roma 2,490 47.9 150 2.8 960 41.8 190 8.2 
			 Mixed 23,630 20.1 2,020 1.7 14,180 16.8 1,850 2.2 
			 White and Black Caribbean 9,380 23.4 740 1.8 6,380 20.9 800 2.6 
			 White and Black African 2,630 21.0 190 1.5 1,390 17.3 150 1.9 
			 White and Asian 3,730 15.4 340 1.4 1,990 11.8 310 1.8 
			 Any other Mixed Background 7,900 19.4 750 1.9 4,430 15.4 600 2.1 
			 Asian 50,610 19.0 4,020 1.5 33,160 15.0 3,910 1.8 
			 Indian 10,780 13.9 910 1.2 7,500 9.6 940 1.2 
			 Pakistani 25,720 23.3 2,060 1.9 16,530 19.9 2,010 2.4 
			 Bangladeshi 9,630 20.7 700 1.5 5,760 17.6 660 2.0 
			 Any other Asian Background 4,480 14.4 350 1.1 3,380 12.6 300 1.1 
			 Black 37,420 25.2 2,880 1.9 24,890 21.2 2,530 2.2 
			 Black Caribbean 13,860 28.5 1,080 2.2 10,470 24.3 1,330 3.1 
			 Black African 19,550 23.3 1,440 1.7 11,580 19.1 870 1.4 
			 Any other Black Background 4,010 25.4 360 2.3 2,850 20.6 330 2.4 
			 Chinese 1,160 10.5 150 1.3 1,190 9.2 140 1.1 
			 Any other Ethnic Group 7,500 20.1 520 1.4 5,150 17.3 410 1.4 
			 Classified 651,770 19.7 59,240 1.8 494,080 15.3 71,880 2.2 
			 Unclassified(8) 10,750 23.4 910 2.0 12,560 16.2 2,050 2.6 
			 All pupils(2) 662,520 19.8 60,150 1.8 506,630 15.3 73,930 2.2 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed  (2) Pupils of compulsory school age and above  (3) Excludes dually registered pupils  (4 )Provisional  (5 )Includes pupils at School Action and School Action Plus  (6) The number of pupils with SEN without statements expressed as a percentage of all pupils (aged 5 and over) of the same ethnic origin.  (7) The number of pupils with statements of SEN expressed as a percentage of all pupils (aged 5 and over) of the same ethnic origin.  (8 )Information was not sought or refused   Source:  Annual Schools Census 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained Primary and Secondary Schools( 1) : Pupils with special educational needs by gender January 2006( 2) 
			   Maintained Primary  Maintained Secondary 
			   Pupils with SEN without a statement( 3)  Pupils with a statement of SEN  Pupils with SEN without a statement( 3)  Pupils with a statement of SEN 
			 Female 249,200 18,070 190,440 20,120 
			 Male 467,560 46,850 316,220 53,820 
			 Total 716,750 64,910 506,670 73,930 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed and excludes dually registered pupils  (2) Provisional  (3 )Includes pupils at School Action and School Action Plus  Source: Annual Schools Census.

Dyslexic Children

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what resources are allocated in  (a) Southend on Sea and  (b) England to the training of teachers in detecting and teaching dyslexic children; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of dyslexic  (a) children and  (b) adults in each of the last 10 years;
	(3)  what recent research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on dyslexia; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what figures his Department collects on the number of children under 16 years of age with dyslexia; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: To be awarded qualified teacher status (QTS), all trainee teachers must demonstrate that they understand their responsibilities under the statutory SEN code of practice, know how to seek advice from specialists where necessary, and can differentiate their teaching to meet the needs of pupils, including those with SEN.
	The National Standards for qualified teachers status and the Induction Programme for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT) both cover SEN, including specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. NQTs are required to demonstrate that they can plan effectively to meet the needs of pupils in their class with SEN, with or without a statement, and in consultation with the school's SEN Co-ordinator, contribute to the preparation and implementation of individual pupils' education plans or the equivalent.
	The Department is working with the Training and Development Agency for Schools to take forward a range of specific initiatives designed to improve the skills and confidence of trainee, newly qualified, and established teachers in supporting pupils with SEN and disabilities.
	All schools have a school development grant that they can use, amongst other things, for the purposes of supporting the continuing professional development of teachers in relation to their understanding and knowledge of SEN and disability issues. A wide variety of courses are available covering SEN, including dyslexia, ranging from awareness-raising through to in-depth studies leading to specific qualifications. It is, however, a matter for individual teachers and their schools to determine their own particular training and development needs.
	No information is collected centrally which would enable the Government to make an estimate of the number of children and adults with dyslexia. However, since 2004, the Department for Education and Skills have collected data on pupils by type of SEN as part of the annual school census. Dyslexia is included within specific learning difficulties (SpLD)which also covers dyscalculia and dyspraxia. We have data on pupils with SEN at 'School Action Plus' and with a statement of SEN where SpLD is recorded as their primary need. The number of pupils aged under 16 with SpLD in maintained schools in 2006 was just under 77,000. We do not have data on pupils whose needs are met at 'School Action' or where SpLD is a secondary or other need.
	The Department has not commissioned any recent research on dyslexia.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the capacity of further education institutions to administer the education maintenance allowance in-house from 2007-08.

Parmjit Dhanda: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 15 February 2006:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked 'how much has been spent on administration of educational maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme was piloted; and how much is expected to be spent in each year until 2009-10'.
	 EMA Pilots
	It is not possible to be precise about the expenditure on administration during the pilot period. The table below shows the total expenditure and the approximated administration expenditure on the Education Maintenance Allowance pilots by financial year.
	
		
			   million 
			   1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04 
			 Full costs 11 52 109 120 142 
			 Administration costs (approximate) 0.44 2.08 4.4 4.8 5.7 
		
	
	EMA pilots were administered through local authorities in areas identified as having low percentages of young people staying on in education post-16. Administration costs were agreed on the basis of type of pilot and volumes, and were subject to audit. Payments varied across the local authorities but on average administration costs were around 3-4 % of the full claim made by the local authority.
	 EMA Main Scheme
	The table below shows the main scheme EMA provision for future years made in Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) by financial year.
	
		
			   million 
			   (Actual)  (Planned)  (Planned)  (Planned)  (Planned)  (Planned) 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09( 1)  2009-10( 1) 
			 Full Costs 260 432 570 591 598 595 
			 Administration costs (approximate) 42.7 53.1 52.5 35.8 (1) (1) 
			 (1 )The figures for 2008-09 and 2009-10 are dependent on the outcomes of the Comprehensive Spending Review. 
		
	
	The EMA main scheme commenced from the beginning of the 2004/05 academic year and is administered through schools and colleges. The costs shown include set-up and publicity expenditure, payments to colleges and schools for them to set up administrative arrangements, and payments to the Assessment and Payment Body for processing.
	Roll-out of the scheme is continuing, with consequent planned increases in volumes. From April EMA is also being extended to young people on Entry to Employment (E2E) and Programme Led Pathways. This expansion is covered within the figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08, and unit costs decrease as the scheme beds in.
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Philip Brewins at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4513 or Philip. Brewins@lsc.gov.uk

Education Maintenance Allowance

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many residents of Wansdyke constituency are  (a) eligible for and  (b) in receipt of the education maintenance allowance.

Parmjit Dhanda: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom dated 15 March 2006:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question regarding Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received EMA is available at Local Education Authority (LEA) level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payment in the academic year 2005/06.
	Projections of the number of young people eligible for EMA are formed by applying income distributions (derived from the Family Resources Survey) and expected numbers in full-time further education. When applied to individual localities the figures may be subject to some variation but they provide a useful estimate.
	The following table displays the data for South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in 2005/06 (by the end of January 2006) 
			  LEA  Projected number eligible  Actual take-up 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,950 1,387 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 1,320 1,011 
		
	
	In modelling EMA take-up we also produce projections for the number of young people expected to receive one or more EMA payment in each LEA. In producing these projections we have taken account of the take-up in the first year of the national scheme and factored an expected increase for year two. The following table displays this data.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in 2005/06 (by the end of January 2006) 
			  LEA  Projected take-up of EMA  Actual take-up 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,530 1,387 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 1,040 1,011 
		
	
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Eric Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in Cumbria are in receipt of the education maintenance allowance.

Parmjit Dhanda: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 5 May 2006:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked How many pupils in Cumbria are in receipt of the education maintenance allowance?
	By the end of March 2006, 3,611 young people in the Cumbria local education authority area had applied, enrolled and received one or more EMA payment during the academic year 2005/06.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will raise the threshold of parental income for the payments of education maintenance allowance (EMA); and what assessment he has made of the impact of replacing the entry to employment scheme with EMA.

Parmjit Dhanda: I can confirm that the household income thresholds that are used to determine eligibility for receipt of education maintenance allowance (EMA) have been increased. The household income thresholds (for applications based on the tax year 2005-06) have been increased in line with the retail prices index as follows:
	
		
			   EMA award () 
			 0 to 20,817 30 
			 20,818 to 25,521 20 
			 25,522 to 30,810 10 
		
	
	To respond to the second part of your question, I need to clarify that the Entry to Employment scheme is still being operated and will not be replaced by EMA.
	From April 2006, the package of financial support provided to 16 to 19-year-old learners in school sixth forms/further education colleges, has been extended to young people participating in unwaged training programmes (Entry to Employment and Programme led Pathways) funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The extension of EMA to unwaged trainees should not be regarded as simply the replacement of the training allowance by EMA. It is a full package of financial support which will extend EMA to unwaged trainees and extend child benefit and child tax credit to their parents/carers. This will mean more money for the majority of unwaged trainees and their families, who are typically low to middle income households. Those young people who are estranged from their parents/carers, and entitled to claim benefits in their own right, will also be much better off as they will be able to claim income support in addition to their EMA.
	The LSC will monitor and evaluate the impact of these reforms and will report progress on implementing them to my officials at the Department for Education and Skills.

Education Spending

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on  (a) nursery,  (b) primary and  (c) secondary education in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England in 2005-06.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not yet available. The Department is due to collect the section 52 Outturn data relating to the 2005-06 financial year from August 2006.

Former Civil Servants (Consultants)

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many former members of his Department have notified the civil service authorities under civil service regulations that they are working for  (a) lobbyists and  (b) consultants; which companies are involved in each case; and whether the company is employed by his Department.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information in the form requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	All staff who leave the Department are subject to the Business Appointment Rules issued by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.
	A list of all Business Appointment applications considered by the advisory committee is published in the committee's annual report, copies of which can be obtained from the Library.

Foster Care

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in England are waiting to be placed with foster parents.

Parmjit Dhanda: There is currently no central collection of data regarding the number of children in England who are waiting to be placed with foster carers.
	However, work to develop an annual return on foster care is currently being taken forward by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, with a view to collecting data from all fostering providers from summer 2006.

Leased Land

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what  (a) land and  (b) property his Department (i) leases and (ii) leased in (A) 1979, (B) 1983, (C) 1987, (D) 1992 and (E) 1997 in (1) the Southend, West constituency, (2) Essex, (3) Hertfordshire and (4) the Metropolitan Police area of London.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Secretary of State for Education and Skills does not currently lease any land or property in any of the areas in question. Historical information is not available.

Merseyside Learning and Skills Council

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the restructuring of the Merseyside Learning and Skills Council to be completed; and what consequential effects he expects on costs.

Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council is making good progress in implementing its restructuring proposals, and has announced a number of senior level appointments in Merseyside, including the Area Director and Local Partnership Directors. The timescale for completing the restructuring programme is a matter for the LSC, but we would expect implementation across the whole organisation to be complete by March 2007. The LSC estimates that nationally these changes will save up to 40 million, including in property and related costs.

Merseyside Learning and Skills Council

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultation is being carried out concerning the restructuring of the Merseyside Learning and Skills Council.

Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council has consulted staff and unions on its proposals. The formal consultation ended on 8 February, following a short extension to the agreed 90 day consultation period. The Learning and Skills Council is continuing to discuss the changes with staff and Unions at both national level and local level. We expect implementation to be complete by March 2007.

Milton Keynes University

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what role  (a) the Higher Education Funding Council and  (b) his Department will have in (i) establishing links between West Midlands universities and (ii) developing a university for Milton Keynes.

Bill Rammell: The DfES and the Higher Education Funding Council for England do not have a formal role in establishing links between Universities or for developing new Universities. However, HEFCE do work closely with and contribute funding towards the West Midlands Higher Education Association whose aims are to promote West Midlands HEIs and to facilitate collaboration between HEIs and provide a forum for sharing, communicating and disseminating good practice.

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for Ministers of State in his Department on foreign visits in each of the last three years;
	(2)  on how many occasions Ministers of State in his Department stayed overnight in  (a) five star,  (b) four star and  (c) three star hotels on foreign visits in each of the last three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: Costs for overnight accommodation for all Ministers on foreign visits in each of the last three years are in the following table:
	
		
			   Cost () 
			 2003-04 4,170 
			 2004-05 2,487 
			 2005-06 3,286 
		
	
	Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year. This information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Library.
	Records of the star ratings of hotels stayed in by Ministers are not held centrally and could be collected only by incurring disproportionate cost.
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Prison Education

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will ensure that every adult prison has  (a) a learning support assistant and  (b) a special educational needs co-ordinator.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 2 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1425W.

Private Office Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been paid in  (a) salary,  (b) travelling expenses,  (c) subsistence allowance and  (d) removal expenses to special advisers in his private office in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each payband. For information relating to the last financial year I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 21 July 2005,  Official Report, columns 158-61WS.
	Information on special advisers for this financial year is currently being collected and will be published in the normal way when it is ready.
	The following table shows special advisers' travel expenses for the last five years:
	
		
			   Amount () 
			 2001-02 3,051 
			 2002-03 4,080 
			 2003-04 2,445 
			 2004-05 1,345 
			 2005-06 2,123 
		
	
	The Department does not hold records of special advisers' subsistence in the format requested. This information could be provided only by incurring a disproportionate cost.
	According to records, there have been no removal costs paid to special advisers in this Department in the last five years.
	All official travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the ministerial code and the civil service management code.

Private Office Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of his private office staff is  (a) male,  (b) female and  (c) disabled.

Parmjit Dhanda: The following table shows the percentage of  (a) male and  (b) female staff in the Department for Education and Skills' ministerial private offices.
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 Male 45 
			 Female 55 
		
	
	Information on staffs disabilities is not held.

Promotion Boards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many promotion boards have been held in his Department in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The number of promotion boards held in the Department in each of the years requested are set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Promotion boards 
			 2001 HEO 
			 2002 Senior Civil Service 
			 2003 SEO 
			 2004 Senior Civil Service 
			 2005 Grade 6 and Grade 7 
		
	
	These promotion boards were open to internal candidates only.

Pupil/Teacher Ratio

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average pupil:teacher ratio in primary schools in  (a) Cornwall,  (b) the South-West Region and  (c) England was in each year since 2001.

Jim Knight: The following table provides the pupil: teacher ratio in maintained primary schools in Cornwall local authority, the South West government office region and England, in each January from 2001 to 2006. Information for 2006 is not yet available at local authority level.
	
		
			  Pupil:teacher ratios in maintained primary schools in Cornwall local authority, South West government office region and England, as at January of each year 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Cornwall 22.9 22.3 22.4 22.6 22.6 n/a 
			 South West 23.0 22.4 22.4 22.6 22.5 21.8 
			 England 22.9 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.5 22.0 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Provisional. Source: Annual School Census

Racial Abuse Complaints

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many complaints of racial abuse have been  (a) investigated and  (b) upheld in his Department in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department's investigation procedure, to consider allegations of racial abuse, has been initiated less than five times in each of the last five years. On this basis, we regret that the information is suppressed on grounds of confidentiality.
	The DfES believes that everyone should have an equal opportunity to meet their aspirations, realise their full potential and improve their life chances and we aspire to be an exemplary equal opportunities employer, and create a workplace which values diversity and is free from any form of unfair discrimination.
	The Department does not tolerate unacceptable behaviour towards others. Formal complaints of racial abuse are investigated quickly and thoroughly and where complaints are upheld, appropriate disciplinary action is taken.

School Day

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average length of the school day in England was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The requested information for England is not collected centrally.

Student Accommodation

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support his Department provides for the provision of student accommodation.

Bill Rammell: The Department for Education and Skills does not provide any direct support to higher education institutions for the provision of student accommodation. Institutions are able to use other funding available to them to secure the provision of appropriate accommodation for their students.

Student Finances

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evaluation he has undertaken of the impact of regional variations in students' cost of living on the number of students  (a) going to university and  (b) completing their course.

Bill Rammell: Since 1999/2000 the initial entrants to HE have increased from 246,000 to 271,000 in 2004/05 and we now have world class completion rates of 86 per cent. I am not aware of any evidence to demonstrate that regional variations in living costs are correlated with participation or completion rates, and in the most recent Student Income and Expenditure Survey (SIES 2004/05) commissioned by the DfES 4 out of 5 of students thought the benefits of HE were greater than the costs. We are already making 2 billion a year available in student support, abolishing up front tuition fees and institutions will become more responsible for providing additional support for deserving students through bursaries which will be worth over 300 million.

Student Finances

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has  (a) undertaken and  (b) assessed on the (i) levels of rent in student accommodation and (ii) impact of rent levels on levels of participation.

Bill Rammell: The recently published the Student Income and Expenditure Survey (SIES) 2004/05 questioned students on their expenditure on rent and mortgage, this has increased by 29 per cent. on average across all full-time students in real terms since the last comprehensive study in 1998/09.
	Since 1999/2000 initial entrants to HE have increased from 246,000 to 271,000 in 2004/05 and we now have world class completion rates of 86 per cent. I am not aware of any evidence to demonstrate that accommodation costs are correlated with participation rates although SIES 2004/05 showed that 4 out of 5 of students thought the benefits of HE were greater than the costs. We are already making 2 billion a year available in student support, abolishing up front tuition fees and institutions will become more responsible for providing additional support for deserving students through bursaries which will be worth over 300 million.

Teaching

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many state-maintained schools offer Mandarin as a language option from Key Stage 3; and how many state-funded colleges offer A and AS level Mandarin.

Jim Knight: Information is not collected on the subjects offered at any Key Stage by schools and colleges. However, it is possible to provide figures on the number of schools where at least one pupil has been entered for an examination in a particular subject at Key Stage 4 and Post-16 education (but not for Key Stage 3) and these are given as follows.
	In 2005, the number of maintained schools where at least one 15-year-old(1) pupil was entered for a GCSE full course in Chinese(2) was 500. In the same year, 183 maintained schools and 70 FE Sector Colleges had at least one student entered for A or AS level Chinese.
	(1) Age at start of academic year i.e. 31 August.
	(2) GCSE and A/AS level Chinese qualifications are accessible to both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers.

Teaching

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which foreign languages are taught in schools in each local authority in England; and how many children between the ages of 14 and 16 years are studying each language.

Jim Knight: holding answer 22 May 2006
	Information is not collected on the subjects taught in schools, however it is possible to provide figures to show where at least one pupil has been entered for a particular subject. It is not possible, however, to say whether the school has actually taught the subject or whether the pupil has been entered privately.
	A table showing the number of 15-year-old pupils(1) entered for GCSE full course languages examinations in 2004/05(2), by local authority has been placed in the Library.

Teaching

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in the Ribble Valley have been taught at home in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Parents may exercise their right to educate their children at home on a temporary or permanent basis. We do not collect information about the numbers of children whose parents provide education at home, and it would be impractical to do so given the transient nature of some of this type of provision.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Access to Justice

Anne Milton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to improve access to justice for those who  (a) are not eligible for legal aid and  (b) are unable to find a solicitor who will take on their case via legal aid.

Vera Baird: The information is as follows:  (a) Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) enable solicitors to undertake cases on the basis that they will only charge their fee in the event of success and nothing in the event of failure. The Government have extended the use of CFAs so that they are now available for all civil proceedings, except family proceedings. We recently completed a major simplification of the regulation of CFAs to make the process easier for consumers to understand. In January this year the Government launched a straightforward guide for consumers to help them to get the information they need to make an informed choice about the most appropriate legal adviser for them. My Department is working closely with Community Legal Service Direct to develop this guidance further to ensure that those consumers that are not eligible for legal aid have the confidence to shop effectively for their legal services. The Government's proposals for legal service reform will also improve access to justice by promoting competition within the legal profession and building consumer confidence in the sector.
	 (b) The Legal Services Commission (LSC) continues to work with suppliers to fill potential gaps where possible through outreach services and telephone advice. The LSC consulted last year on its strategy for the Community Legal Service (CLS), Making Legal Rights a Reality. The Commission's final strategy for the CLS was launched on 23 March 2006. One of the proposals is the development of Community Legal Advice Networks which will be particularly beneficial in less densely populated and larger geographical areas, as they will operate to ensure that services are joined up so as to provide a wider range of services to the client than previously available. Clients can find a local legal adviser through the Community Legal Service (CLS) Direct telephone helpline. Their telephone number is: 0845 345 4345 or alternatively their website is www.clsdirect.org.uk

Advertising

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on advertising by her Department in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: Since its inception in June 2003, my Department, the Department for Constitutional Affairs has conducted the following advertising on:
	A regional poster campaign on buses to promote recruitment to the lay magistracy
	A national campaign to promote recruitment to the lay magistracy
	Radio and press adverts to target court fine defaulters (under the title Operation Payback)
	Press adverts to promote voting fraud prevention
	Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid Procurement
	
		
			   Project  Expenditure on advertising () 
			 2003 Operation Payback (Phase 1) 230,000 
			  Magistrate recruitment 342,000 
			  
			 2004 Operation Payback (Phase 2) 292,000 
			  Magistrate recruitment 102,000 
			  
			 2005 Postal voting 185,270 
			  Magistrate recruitment 741,000 
			  Operation Payback (Phase 3) 263,082 
			  
			 2006 Magistrate recruitment 162,493 
			  Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid Procurement 24,200

Departmental Consultations

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was  (a) in total and  (b) of each consultation.

Vera Baird: During the calendar year 2005, the Department for Constitutional Affairs undertook 16 formal public consultations in order to inform the department's policy development. Information on the cost of all consultations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Credit Cards

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what facility is available for senior civil servants in her Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department.

Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs has adopted the OGCbuying.solutions National Framework for the Government Procurement Card (GPC) and Government Fuel Card (GFC) facilities in line with best practice. These are available to identified staff in the Department including senior civil servants.
	Unlike a consumer credit card, which offers consumers extended credit facilities, both GPC and Fuel Cards were introduced to consolidate high-occurrence small value purchases, with Procurement Card invoices to be settled in full at the end of each billing period.
	There are no other credit cards supplied by the Department for use by staff.

Departmental Estate

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what  (a) land and  (b) property her Department (i) leases and (ii) leased in  (A) 1979,  (B) 1983,  (C) 1987,  (D) 1992 and  (E) 1997 in (1) the Southend West constituency, (2) Essex, (3) Hertfordshire and (4) the Metropolitan Police area of London.

Vera Baird: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside her Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in her Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Bridget Prentice: For my Department, the expenditure on IT systems since 2001 is contained within three main areas; Crown and county courts, magistrates courts and headquarters. These three areas which are sourced from outside the Department, are covered by separate contracts: LOCCS, ARAMIS and the LIBRA contracts.
	The total IT spend under these contracts over the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			million 
			 2001-02 73.8 
			 2002-03 110.24 
			 2003-04 149.6 
			 2004-05 121.38 
			 2005-06 158.51 
		
	
	The Chief Information Officer, Annette Vernon CBE, advises the Permanent secretary on IT matters for the Department. She has more than 20 years experience in public sector IT based change. She has successfully delivered important and award-winning projects such as LINK (supplying infrastructure to the courts), XHIBIT (exchanging Hearing Information By Internet Technology), and MCOL (Money Claim OnLine). She has formal qualifications in programme and project management.

Legal Aid

David Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total cost of legal aid for supporting prisoners appealing parole board decisions was in each of the last five years.

Vera Baird: pursuant to the reply, 18 May 2006, Official Report c. 1185W
	The figures in my answer of 18 May related to the cost of legal aid only for parole board hearings. They did not include the costs of judicial reviews of parole board hearings.
	The Legal Services Commission is not able to readily provide specifically the cost of legal aid for supporting prisoners seeking judicial reviews of parole board decisions as judicial reviews are not centrally recorded to that level of specification.

Ministerial Travel (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for Ministers of State in her Department on foreign visits in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year, this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Library.
	I am unable to provide the requested information for Minister of State without incurring disproportionate costs.

Ministerial Travel (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  on how many occasions Ministers of State in her Department stayed overnight in  (a) five-star,  (b) four-star and  (c) three-star hotels on foreign visits in each of the last three years;
	(2)  on how many occasions  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisers in her Department have stayed overnight in (i) five-star, (ii) four-star and (iii) three-star hotels in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year, this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Library.
	I am unable to provide the requested information for Minister of State, special advisors or civil servants without incurring disproportionate costs.

Postal Voting Fraud

Nigel Evans: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many incidents of postal vote fraud were recorded in the Limehouse ward of Tower Hamlets on 4 May.

Bridget Prentice: The Government are aware that a number of allegations have been made concerning the conduct of the May 2006 local elections in the Limehouse ward of Tower Hamlets.
	The Government are also aware that these allegations are the subject of an ongoing police investigation, and that any comment on these particular allegations cannot be made until the investigation has reached a conclusion.

Staff Surveys

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many staff surveys have been conducted in her Department in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: My Department has an established policy of surveying staff satisfaction. Such surveys are by questionnaire, which are sent to all staff on an annual basis. However, 2004-05 was a transitional year leading up to the DCA's merger with the 42 magistrates courts committees in April 2005 and no survey took place that year.
	In the last three years, two surveys have been conducted: one in 2003-04 one in 2005-06.

HEALTH

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed on pregnancies of 18 weeks or more gestation in England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available; what the  (a) age of mother,  (b) residency of mother,  (c) grounds for abortion,  (d) marital status of mother,  (e) number of previous children and  (f) number of previous abortions were in each case; and how many and what percentage of those abortions were performed in the (i) public and (ii) private sector.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Abortions 18 weeks and over to residents of England and Wales and non-residents, by age, residency of mother, grounds, marital status, number of previous live or stillbirths and number of previous terminations, each by purchaser, 2004 
			   NHS( 1)  Private  
			   Total  Percentage  Private total  Percentage  Total 
			  Age at termination  
			 Under 16 years 179 88 25 12 204 
			 16 228 89 27 11 255 
			 17 328 89 40 11 368 
			 18 374 88 49 12 423 
			 19 370 82 82 18 452 
			 20 370 85 63 15 433 
			 21 304 79 79 21 383 
			 22 277 82 60 18 337 
			 23 256 78 71 22 327 
			 24 243 81 57 19 300 
			 25 181 78 50 22 231 
			 26 179 84 33 16 212 
			 27 156 79 41 21 197 
			 28 169 83 35 17 204 
			 29 144 80 36 20 180 
			 30 148 86 25 14 173 
			 31 132 80 33 20 165 
			 32 139 83 28 17 167 
			 33 127 85 23 15 150 
			 34 113 82 25 18 138 
			 35 102 84 19 16 121 
			 36 81 84 15 16 96 
			 37 88 86 14 14 102 
			 38 78 86 13 14 91 
			 39 65 86 11 14 76 
			 40 years and over 164 80 41 20 205 
			   
			  Residency of mother  
			 Residents(2) 4,871 90 563 10 5,434 
			 Other 124 22 432 78 556 
			   
			  Grounds for termination  
			 Section l(l)(a)(3) 4,049 81 978 19 5,027 
			 Other 946 98 17 2 963 
			   
			  Marital status  
			 Single no partner 1,262 82 275 18 1,537 
			 Single with partner 821 83 166 17 987 
			 Single status not stated 925 81 215 19 1,140 
			 Married 824 86 129 14 953 
			 Divorced/widowed separated 126 81 30 19 156 
			 Not known 1,037 85 180 15 1,217 
			   
			  Number of previous live or stillborn pregnancies  
			 0 2,810 81 648 19 3,458 
			 1 1,098 86 175 14 1,273 
			 2 648 86 106 14 754 
			 3 267 85 48 15 315 
			 4 and more 172 91 18 9 190 
			   
			  Number of previous terminations  
			 0 3,656 83 755 17 4,411 
			 1 1,074 85 185 15 1,259 
			 2 and more 265 83 55 17 320 
			   
			  Gestations  
			 18 weeks and over 4,995 83 995 17 5,990 
			 (1 )Includes abortions performed in NHS hospitals and the independent sector under an NHS contract. (2 )Residents of England and Wales. (3 )That the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family.  Note: Specific groups shown only where there are 10 or more cases in total.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has  (a) undertaken and  (b) assessed on (i) the earliest point in its development an unborn child will experience pain, (ii) the earliest gestational age at which an unborn child may be capable of being born alive, (iii) the number of occasions when an unborn baby is wrongly diagnosed as being handicapped and is subsequently born without disability or handicap and (iv) the suicide rate among women who have had an abortion; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Department has not undertaken research on the following issues. However:
	The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist's (RCOG) report 'Fetal Awareness, Report of a Working Party (1997)' concluded that before 26 weeks gestation the nervous system has not developed sufficiently to allow the fetus to experience pain.
	Guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine introduces the concept of a threshold of viability as being from 22 to 26 weeks gestation. At low gestation age, even if the fetus is born alive, there are high risks of death due to immaturity. Indeed, while the possibility of survival of extremely pre-term babies has improved, data suggest that, even with modern intensive care, chances of survival at 22 weeks gestation are only approximately 1 per cent.
	There are currently variations in antenatal screening practice across England. The Government's aim is to move towards a more integrated policy to give women more informed choice in this area.
	Research shows that newer tests will lead to more accurate screening results. The aim of the research has been to identify the most effective and safe method of antenatal screening.
	In the confidential inquiry into maternal and child health's 2004 triennial report 'Why Mother's Die 2000-2002', none of the maternal suicides are attributed to abortion.
	The RCOG's evidence-based guideline 'The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (2004)' recommends that referral for further counselling should be available for the small minority of women who experience long-term post-abortion distress.

Anti-depressants

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescription items of  (a) benzodiazepines and  (b) each other anti-depressant were dispensed in England in 2005.

Andy Burnham: In 2005 the number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England were 29.4 million for antidepressants and 11.3 million for benzodiazepines. More detailed information is obtainable from www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/prescostanalvsis2005.

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people employed in Bedford Hospital NHS trust have been on  (a) short-term and  (b) temporary contracts in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Information is not available in the format requested. However, the information in the following table shows the number of locum staff working in Bedfordshire hospitals national health service trust for the period that data is available covering the 2002 to 2005.
	
		
			  Hospital and community health services (HCHS): locum staff( 1)  working in Bedford hospitals NHS trust by grade and year 
			  Number(headcount) 
			   Data as at 30 September each year 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 All staff 9 14 14 13 
			  Of which: 
			 Consultant 3 6 8 10 
			 Associate specialist/staff grade 1 2 2 0 
			 Registrar group 2 2 3 1 
			 Senior house officer 2 4 0 1 
			 House officer and foundation programme year one 0 0 1 0 
			 Hospital practitioner/clinical assistant 1 0 0 1 
			 (1) Excludes staff that hold a substantive contract.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, medical and dental workforce census

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to improve patient care at the Riverbank children's ward at Bedford hospital NHS trust; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Improvements to the children's ward at Bedford hospital trust are in line with the Department's National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services which includes a standard on hospital care. This states that examples of good practice already exist but we expect all hospitals providing services to children to consider how to follow the best practices available. It is for NHS trusts to decide in the light of local priorities how to implement the hospital standard of the NSF. There are a number of good practice examples already on the Department of Health's emerging practice database, which is online at www.childrensnsfcasestudies.dh.gov.uk/children/nsfcasestudies.nsf. The NSF can be viewed at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/06/72/51/04067251.pdf

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in children's wards at Bedford hospital NHS trust in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Information is not available in the format requested. However, the information in the following table gives the numbers of medical and dental staff with a paediatric specialty working in Bedford hospital national health service trust by grade and year.
	
		
			  Hospital and community health services: medical and dental staff with a paediatric specialty working in Bedford hospital  NHS trust by grade and year 
			  Full-time equivalents 
			   Data as at 30 September each year 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 All staff 14 14 15 14 18 14 18 10 19 
			 Consultant 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 
			 Associate specialist/staff grade 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 
			 Registrar group 4 4 4 3 4 3 3 3 6 
			 Senior house officer 5 5 6 6 7 4 8 1 7 
			  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, medical and dental workforce census

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the impact on patient care of the staff reductions proposed by Bedford Hospital NHS Trust; what representations she has received about this; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department has made no assessment of the proposed job cuts at Bedfordshire Hospital National Health Service Trust. The trust has said that any reduction in posts will be achieved through natural wastage and should any staff be displaced every effort will be made to redeploy them elsewhere in the trust. Every effort will be made to ensure that any reduction in staffing levels does not impact on patient care.

Choose and Book System

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2006,  Official Report, column 1812W, on the Choose and Book System, how many bookings were made through the Choose and Book system in each month between July 2004 and July 2005, broken down by geographical area; and how many bookings were made through the  (a) directly and  (b) indirectly bookable service in each month since July 2005, broken down by geographical area.

Caroline Flint: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Connecting for Health

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the status is of the Connecting for Health IT project.

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 16 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 939-40W.

Dentistry

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) new general dental services contracts and  (b) new personal dental services agreements which have been offered to dentists have been (i) signed and (ii) rejected in (A) each primary care trust and (B) England; and what percentage of the previous NHS dentistry service level is now offered in (1) each primary care trust and (2) England.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 April 2006
	Data on provisional management estimates on the number of signed and rejected contracts which also set out the estimated level of national health service services associated with accepted contracts compared with that of rejected contracts, based on weighted courses of treatment or units of dental activity have been placed in the Library.
	A contract may be for either a practice or an individual dentist.
	Primary care trusts are using the funding associated with rejected contracts to commission additional services from other dentists.

Dentistry

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the merits of permitting dentists trained in  (a) the USA and  (b) Canada to work in the NHS; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The General Dental Council is responsible for the registration of dentists who wish to practise in the United Kingdom. There is a long tradition of dentists from overseas coming to work here to extend their training and experience and contribute to national health service dental care and we intend that this practice should continue.

Dentistry

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) formal and  (b) informal advice her Department received from the British Dental Association following the meeting on 14 February 2006 to discuss the new NHS dental contracts.

Rosie Winterton: The British Dental Association (BDA) met departmental officials on 22 February to discuss in more detail some of the issues raised at the meeting on 14 February 2006. The BDA is now represented on the implementation group that has been set up to review the impact of the reforms and identify any issues that need to be addressed.

Dentistry

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average remuneration per full-time equivalent NHS general dental practitioner was in the East Hull and West Hull Primary Care Trust area in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Average remuneration per full-time equivalent national health service general dental practitioner in the Eastern Hull and West Hull Primary Care Trust area alone is not identifiable from data available centrally.
	All estimated average annual net incomes, between 1997-98 and 2004-05, of general dental services (GDS) dentists with a reasonable commitment to the GDS are shown in the following table. These are calculated by first estimating average gross GDS income of a dentist with a reasonable NHS commitment and then applying estimates of the expenses to earnings ratio covering all dentists.
	Estimated average GDS net income for dentists with a reasonable GDS commitment, 1997-98 to 2004-05, England and Wales.
	
		
			  Financial year  Estimated average net GDS income () 
			 1997-98 51,200 
			 1998-99 54,300 
			 1999-2000 55,700 
			 2000-01 59,200 
			 2001-02 60,500 
			 2002-03 63,300 
			 2003-04 66,700 
			 2004-05 70,000 
		
	
	The income figures cover both estimated fees for treatments and patient capitation as well as other estimated payments such as seniority payments and commitment payments and payments for maternity and sickness. Income from private sources is excluded from these estimates.
	When account is taken of the lower expenses ratio for dentists with a higher NHS commitment, the estimated average net GDS income for 2004-05 in the table would be about 74,000. In 2005-06, after allowing for the 3.4 per cent. fee increase, the average would be about 76,500 for a dentist with a reasonable NHS commitment.
	Separate information from tax returns provided to HM Revenue and Customs gives new income after expenses from all self-employed work, both NHS and private. For the 2003-04 tax year, average net income for non-associate dentists with very high NHS commitment was 78,600. This average will include some dentists working part-time. Non-associate dentists work either on their own or else in a partnership arrangement with other dentists.
	NHS dentists benefit from a contributory pension scheme. Dentists working privately have to fully fund their own pension arrangements.

Dentistry

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of  (a) adults and  (b) children are registered with an NHS dentist in each primary care trust in England; and how many were registered in each category in 1997.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 3 May 2006
	The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Destroyed Documents (Blood Products)

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department has carried out an internal review into the destruction in the 1990s of documents held by her Department relating to national health service blood and plasma products infected with HIV and hepatitis C; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: During the HIV litigation many papers were recalled, and following that we understand papers were not adequately archived and were unfortunately destroyed in error.
	Officials subsequently established during the hepatitis C litigation that documents relating to the advisory committee on the virological safety of blood between 1989 and 1992 had been destroyed in error. Following this discovery, an internal investigation was undertaken in April 2000 by the Department's internal audit.

Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the savings to the NHS consequent on changes to the procurement arrangements for the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin;
	(2)  what the cost is per copy of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin;
	(3)  how many NHS employees on average she estimates read each edition of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin;
	(4)  what methods for disseminating information will replace the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.

Andy Burnham: The cost to the Department for the purchase and distribution of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin in 2005-06 was 1.4 million.
	Under the terms of the Department's contract with the Consumers' Association, the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin was distributed free of charge to all 120,000 national health service doctors in England 12 times a year. The cost of the contract in 2005-06 was 1.4 million which equates to a cost of approximately 0.97 per copy.
	The Department has no information about the number of NHS employees who read each edition of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.
	Doctors and other prescribers have access to a wide variety of information resources to support their prescribing. These include the British National Formularies, advice and training from the National Prescribing Centre, guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the National Electronic Library for Health, the various on-line databases and reference resources, such as Medline, and various academic and professional journals.

Electromagnetic Fields

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has commissioned into the effect of electromagnetic fields on public health in the last five years.

Caroline Flint: The Department supports two broad programmes of research into the potential effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and health: one on radiofrequency fields (as emitted by mobile phones) and the other largely on extremely low frequency (ELF) fields (such as associated with power lines and domestic electrical supply).
	The mobile telecommunications and health research (MTHR) programme has been running since 2001. It is funded jointly by Government and industry and is managed by an independent scientific committee. A description of the programme and a list of ongoing and completed studies are available on the MTHR's website at www.mthr.org.uk.
	The Department's radiation protection research programme supports a number of studies investigating the possible health effects of other electromagnetic fields (largely ELF-EMF). These range from laboratory work investigating possible cellular effects to large population studies. Descriptions of these studies are available on the World Health Organisation (WHO) EMF research database at www.who.int/peh-emf/research/database/en/.
	In addition, the Department, along with the Health and Safety Executive, has supported the WHO's international EMF project since it started in 1997. Information about the EMF project is available on its web site at www.who.int/peh-mf/project/en/.
	In the United Kingdom, the Health Protection Agency's radiation protection division (HPA-RPD) keeps the world-wide research findings on EMF and health continually under review. In 2004, the HPA-RPD, previously the National Radiological Protection Board, published a comprehensive review of scientific evidence in support of its current advice on limiting EMF exposure which is available on HPA's website at: www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/documents_of_nrpb/abstracts/absd15-3.htm.

Emergency Contraception

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many morning-after pills have been distributed by the Greater Peterborough Primary Care Partnership in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information available is shown in the tables. Information on emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) supplied under a patient group direction (PGD) is not held centrally.
	Family planning clinic services for the Peterborough area are provided by North Peterborough primary care trust (PCT). The total number of occasions on which clinics run by this PCT prescribed post-coital contraceptives is published annually but the published figures include some instances where an intrauterine device was fitted.
	EHC via family planning clinics is collected by financial year:
	
		
			  Occasions on which hormonal post-coital contraceptives dispensed at family planning clinics provided by North Peterborough PCT, 2000-01 to 2004-05 
			   Number 
			 2000-01 116 
			 2001-02 85 
			 2002-03 128 
			 2003-04 67 
			 2004-05 38 
			  Source: Information Centre for health and social care, return KT31 
		
	
	EHC via general practice is collected by calendar year:
	
		
			  Total number of items (prescriptions) for hormonal post-coital contraception prescribed in North and South Peterborough for the last four years 
			   Number 
			 2002 1,626 
			 2003 1,506 
			 2004 1,433 
			 2005 1,314 
			  Source: ePACT

Food Businesses (EU Accreditation)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many food businesses in England have  (a) been accredited with ISO 22000 in line with EU regulation 852/2004 and  (b) failed to meet ISO 22000 standard.

Caroline Flint: ISO 22000 accreditation is not required by Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs. The legal requirement is for a permanent procedure or procedures based on the hazard analysis and critical control point principles.

Food Businesses (EU Accreditation)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her assessment is of the British food industry's ability to comply with EU regulation 852/2004.

Caroline Flint: New hygiene legislation, including Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004, applied from 1 January 2006. It modernises, simplifies and consolidates the requirements previously contained in 17 European Union food hygiene directives. The United Kingdom negotiated for flexible legislation that enables businesses to apply effective, proportionate risk-based controls to protect consumer health. The Food Standards Agency has provided guidance and support to industry and food enforcement bodies to ensure that industry's ability to meet the requirements is maintained.

Funding (Northamptonshire)

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the capital expenditure on the  (a) breast screening unit,  (b) chest pain clinic,  (c) intensive treatment unit,  (d) stroke unit,  (e) secure mental health unit,  (f) integrated surgery unit and  (g) orthopaedic theatres in Northamptonshire has been since 1997;
	(2)  what the capital expenditure on health services in Northamptonshire was in each year between 1990 and 2005;

Andy Burnham: Information on capital expenditure by individual national health service organisations is not held centrally. The table shows total capital expenditure across the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area.
	
		
			  Total capital expenditure by organisations within the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic Health Authority area 
			   000 
			 1997-98 28,478 
			 1998-99 23,047 
			 1999-2000 27,773 
			 2000-01 36,093 
			 2001-02 73,403 
			 2002-03 95,078 
			 2003-04 72,771 
			 2004-05 73,065 
			  Notes: 1. Revenue expenditure by strategic health authority area is taken as the total expenditure of the strategic health authority, predecessor health authorities and primary care trusts within the strategic health authority area. Capital expenditure includes NHS trusts within the area. 2. Capital expenditure is the expenditure on the purchased additions of fixed assets. 3. Levels of capital expenditure vary from year to year depending on local investment decisions. 4. Expenditure on general dental services and pharmaceutical services accounted for by the Dental Practice Board and Prescription Pricing Authority, respectively, are excluded. This expenditure cannot be included within the figures for the individual health bodies as they are not included in commissioner accounts.  Sources: Audited accounts of relevant health authorities 1997-98 and 1998-99 Audited summarisation forms of relevant health authorities 1999-2000 to 2001-02 Audited summarisation schedules of relevant primary care trusts 2000-01 to 2004-05 Audited summarisation schedules of NHS Trusts 1997-98 to 2004-05 Audited summarisation forms of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA 2002-03 to 2004-05

Health Care Products

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish the responses to her Department's consultation on arrangements for the provision of dressings, incontinence appliances, stoma appliances, chemical re-agents and other appliances to primary and secondary care; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: A summary of responses to the consultation has been published. It can be found on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/Consultations/ResponsesToConsultations/fs/en.
	This summary also sets out next steps.

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent nursing posts there are at Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust; how many are filled by agency staff; how many such posts were filled by agency staff on average in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The number of hospital and community health services qualified nurses employed at Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust for the last five years for which data is available is:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2001 1,014 
			 2002 1,117 
			 2003 1,009 
			 2004 1,092 
			 2005 1,100 
		
	
	The Department does not collect data in relation to the numbers of agency staff directly employed in the NHS. However, the Department does collect details of expenditure information on non-NHS staff.
	The table shows the total nursing, midwifery and health visiting spend on agency staff for Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust for the previous five years.
	
		
			   Agency nurse spend ( million)  Total NHS nurse spend ( million)  Percentage Agency of total nurse spend 
			 2000-01 2.5 27.4 8.4 
			 2001-02 2.3 25.7 8.1 
			 2002-03 2.8 27 9.4 
			 2003-04 2.2 29.8 6.8 
			 2004-05 0.7 36.4 1.8

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultants per capita there were in Essex in each year since 1997; what the national average was in each year; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The table shows the number of medical and dental consultants by organisation within Essex strategic health authority area per head of population and the average for England for each year since 1997 to 2005, which is the latest data available.
	
		
			  Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) : medical and dental consultants by organisation within  Essex SHA and England , as at 30 September 2005 
			   Number (headcount) and number per population( 1) 
			1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  England  21,474 22,324 23,321 24,401 25,782 27,070 28,750 30,650 31,993 
			 Per 100,000 population  44.1 45.7 47.6 49.6 52.1 54.5 57.7 61.2 63.9 
			
			  Essex SHA  467 478 481 496 526 582 600 667 686 
			 Per 100,000 population  29.6 30.1 30.1 30.9 32.5 35.9 36.8 40.8 41.9 
			
			 Basildon and Thurrock general hospital NHS Trust RDD 65 66 61 58 77 91 95 108 113 
			 Basildon PCT 5GR 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 6 5 
			 Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT 5GP 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 
			 Castle Point and Rochford PCT 5JP 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 
			 Chelmsford PCT 5JN 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 
			 Colchester PCT 5GM 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 4 
			 Essex and Herts Community NHS Trust RQV 21 19 16 7 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust RDE 75 75 83 84 90 95 98 114 117 
			 Essex SHA Q03 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 5 5 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT 5GL 0 0 0 0 6 7 3 3 2 
			 Mid Essex Community and Mental Health NHS Trust RP3 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust RQ8 88 95 97 97 102 116 121 135 138 
			 New Possibilities NHS Trust RDH 4 4 4 4 5 4 0 0 0 
			 North East Essex Mental Health NHS Trust RDJ 17 16 15 18 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Essex HA QAX 7 6 7 5 6 0 0 0 0 
			 North Essex Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust RRD 0 0 0 0 31 32 37 37 39 
			 South Essex HA QAY 7 7 6 8 8 0 0 0 0 
			 South Essex Partnership NHS Trust RWIN 0 0 0 28 26 29 30 41 39 
			 Southend Community Care NHS Trust RDK 17 16 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southend Hospital NHS Trust RAJ 90 89 92 100 97 106 113 118 122 
			 Southend on Sea PCT 5AK 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 
			 Tendring PCT 5AH 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 2 
			 Thameside Community Health Care NHS Trust RG8 11 12 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust RQW 56 64 62 78 78 82 81 88 93 
			 Thurrock PCT 5GQ 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 2 2 
			 Uttlesford PCT 5GN 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Witham, Braintree and Halstead Care Trust TAG 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 
			 (1) 2004 population figures from the 2001 ONS resident estimates have been used for 2005 calculations, as population figures for 2005 at organisation level are not yet available, this figure is therefore subject to change.  Source:  The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census 2001 ONS Population Census

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the per capita funding for  (a) Colchester and  (b) Tendring Primary Care Trust was in each year since 1997; what the national average was in each year; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Revenue allocations were first made to primary care trusts in 2003-04. Prior to this, funding was allocated to health authorities (HAs).
	Funding per head of population in each year since 1997-98 for Colchester PCT, Tendring PCT, the former North Essex HA and the national average is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Funding per head of population 
			   
			   Colchester PCT  Tendring PCT  North Essex HA  England average 
			 1997-98   398 443 
			 1998-99   414 464 
			 1999-2000   578 629 
			 2000-01   634 688 
			 2001-02   674 738 
			 2002-03   744 817 
			 2003-04 758 961  903 
			 2004-05 830 1,068  986 
			 2005-06 993 1,289  1,172 
			 2006-07 1,079 1,455  1,274 
			 2007-08 1,178 1,610  1,388 
			  Notes: It is not possible to compare allocations rounds for the following reasons: 1. organisational changes and changes made to the weighted capitation formula for each allocations round, mean that comparisons between allocations rounds would not be on a like with like basis; 2. services for which PCTs are responsible for funding change over time. For example, 2006-07 is the first year that primary medical services were incorporated into revenue allocations.

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the financial outturn for the Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust has been in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Surplus/(deficit) (000) 
			 1997-98 (2,384) 
			 1998-99 (2,897) 
			 1999-2000 (2,705) 
			 2000-01 8,505 
			 2001-02 30 
			 2002-03 22 
			 2003-04 (5,843) 
			 2004-05 293 
			  Source:  Audited summarisation schedules of the Essex Rivers Healthcare National Health Service Trust

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for  (a) in-patient and  (b) out-patient treatment at Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust was in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The following table shows mean and median times waited in days based on elective finished admission episodes, waiting list and booked cases, at Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust for each year since 1997-98 to 2004-05 which is the latest data available. However, data on outpatient treatment times is not held centrally.
	
		
			   Waiting time in days 
			   Mean  Median 
			 1997-98 138 74 
			 1998-99 155 73 
			 1999-2000 153 75 
			 2000-01 137 69 
			 2001-02 135 79 
			 2002-03 134 81 
			 2003-04 131 85 
			 2004-05 103 75 
			  Notes:  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  Time Waited (days) Time waited statistics from hospital episode statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.  Ungrossed Data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data that is the data is ungrossed.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners per capita there were in  (a) Colchester and  (b) Tendring Primary Care Trust in each year since 1997; what the average ratio was for primary care trusts in each year; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Data relating to the number of general medical practitioners, which excludes retainers and registrars, one per 100,000 head of population, for Essex Strategic Health Authority and specified primary care trusts from 1997-2005 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)( 1)  per 100,000 head of population, for Essex Strategic Health  Authority and specified primary care trusts, 1997-2005, England 
			  Number (headcount) 
			1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005( 2) 
			 Q03  Essex  
			  All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) 821 830 831 829 816 803 866 915 959 
			  All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) per 100,000 head of population 52.0 52.3 52.0 51.6 50.5 49.5 53.1 55.9 58.6 
			   Of which:  
			 5GM  Colchester PCT  
			  All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a 87 87 85 91 102 
			  All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) per 100,000 head of population n/a n/a n/a n/a 55.0 54.7 52.8 55.9 62,6 
			 5AH  Tendring PCT  
			  All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a 65 61 73 77 77 
			  All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) per 100,000 head of population n/a n/a n/a n/a 47.5 44.2 52.6 55.3 55.3 
			 n/a = Data not applicable (1) General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes Contracted GPs, GMS Others and PMS Others. Prior to September 2004 this group included GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS Other, Flexible Career Scheme GPs and GP Returners. (2) 2004 population figures from the 2001 ONS resident estimates have been used for 2005 calculations, as population figures for 2005 at organisation level are not yet available, this figure is therefore subject to change.  Note: Data as at 1 October 1997-1999 and 30 September 2000-05  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, general and personal medical services statistics 2001 ONS Population Census

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the star rating that the Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust received for the number of cancelled operations was due to  (a) clinical and  (b) administrative causes; how many cancelled operations there were in (a) 2005-06 and (b) each of the previous 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Essex Rivers Healthcare National Health Service Trust was given the lowest band of performance by the Healthcare Commission for the cancelled operations performance indicator in the 2004-05 star ratings. The Trust cancelled 2.97 per cent. of operations at the last minute for non-clinical reasons. Trusts that cancelled fewer than 0.5 per cent. of operations were given a score of five (good), trusts that cancelled fewer than 1.5 per cent. of operations were given a score of three and all other trusts were given a score of one (poor) by the Commission.
	Requested information on cancelled operations is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Cancelled operations for non-clinical reasonsEssex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust (RDE) 
			   Number of last minute cancellations for non-clinical reasons in the quarter 
			 2001-02 444 
			 2002-03 741 
			 2003-04 815 
			 2004-05 800 
			  Notes: Data were collected by Health Authority only prior to 2001-02. Trust level data were collected from 2001-02 onwards. Data for 2005-06 are not yet available. A last minute cancellation is one that occurs on the day the patient was due to arrive, after they have arrived in hospital or on the day of their operation. For example, you are to be admitted to hospital on a Monday for an operation scheduled for the following day (Tuesday). If the hospital cancels your operation for non-clinical reasons on the Monday then this would count as a last minute cancellation. This includes patients who have not actually arrived in hospital and have been telephoned at home prior to their arrival. An operation which is rescheduled to a time within 24 hours of the original scheduled operation should be recorded as a postponement and not as a cancellation. The quarterly monitoring of cancelled operations collection does not record the number of postponements. Some common non-clinical reasons for cancellations by the hospital include: ward beds unavailable; surgeon unavailable; emergency case needing theatre; theatre list over-ran; equipment failure; admin error; anaesthetist unavailable; theatre staff unavailable; and critical care bed unavailable.

Health Services (Essex)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidences of abuse of staff by patients were reported in Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust in 2005-06; what the average number for trusts was in that year; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Data relating to the average number of incidences of abuse by trust are not held centrally. Information on incidences of abuse on staff by patients relating to Essex River Healthcare can be obtained by writing to the Chief Executive of that trust.

Hospitals (Lancashire)

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people resident in West Lancashire were treated at  (a) the Royal Liverpool Broadgreen NHS Trust,  (b) Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust,  (c) the Cardiothoracic centre,  (d) Alder Hey Children's hospital,  (e) Liverpool Women's hospital,  (f) Walton Neuro centre and  (g) Mersey Care in each of the last five years, broken down by treatment received.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Insulin

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the preliminary guidance of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence not to recommend the use of insulin inhalers.

Andy Burnham: The preliminary recommendation issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), on the use of insulin inhalers, that inhaled insulin should not be recommended for the treatment of type one or type two diabetes mellitus, except in the context of clinical studies, is not final guidance to the national health service, but a draft for consultation.
	The consultation period concluded on 10 May 2006. Concerns raised by the responses to the consultation will be considered by NICE at its appraisal committee on 25 May. NICE expects to issue final guidance to the NHS later in the year.

Intensive Care

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many intensive treatment unit beds there were in Northampton General Hospital in  (a) 1996 and  (b) 2005.

Andy Burnham: The average daily number of available intensive care beds at Northampton General Hospital for the years specified is shown in the table. Data are not yet available for 2005-06.
	
		
			   Intensive care beds available 
			 1996-97 18 
			 2004-05 21 
			  Source: Department of Health form KH03

Maternity Care

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of maternity care within the West Hertfordshire NHS Trust; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department has made no assessment of maternity care within West Hertfordshire National Health Service Trust. However, there is a maternity services review currently being undertaken by West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust. The review is expected to conclude and report in late June of this year.
	The review group is made up of health professionals, community representatives, that is local authorities, NHS managers, voluntary groups (including Dacorum Hospital action group) and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT). As part of its work, the review team has commissioned the NCT to conduct a postal survey involving every one of the 5,000 women who gave birth in West Hertfordshire last year. Every woman who gave birth last year has been sent a survey form and some have been asked to take part in more intensive focus groups.
	The review's overall remit is to consider and make recommendations on future provision of safe and cost-effective maternity services which meet current national best practice.

Midwives

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant midwife posts there are in  (a) the Sussex Downs and Weald and  (b) the Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust area; and what plans her Department has to recruit midwives in these areas.

Caroline Flint: A range of work force supply strategies have been developed to support the recruitment and retention of more healthcare professionals across England, including midwives. These include:
	promoting careers in the national health service through NHS Careers and national, and local, recruitment campaigns;
	attracting back former staff to the service; and
	improving retention by becoming a better, more flexible and diverse employer.
	The information on midwife vacancies is not available in the format requested. The information in the table gives midwife numbers and vacancies by NHS trust in the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) region.
	
		
			Midwives (March 2005)  Staff in post (September 2004) 
			Three month vacancy rate (percentage)  Three month vacancy (number)  Full-time equivalent  Headcount 
			 England  1.8 348 18,854 24,844 
			   
			 Surrey and Sussex SHA area total Q19 1.4 12 797 1,076 
			 Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust RTK 0.0 0 77 106 
			 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust RXH 0.0 0 154 203 
			 East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust RXC 0.0 0 143 179 
			 Frimley Park Hospital NHS Trust RDU 1.5 2 106 141 
			 Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RPC 0.0 0 1 1 
			 Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust RA2 11.3 10 79 141 
			 Royal West Sussex NHS Trust RPR 0.0 0 66 77 
			 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust RTP 0.0 0 102 128 
			 Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust RPL 0.0 0 70 100 
			  Notes:  Three month vacancy: 1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2005. 2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole-time equivalents). 3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post. 4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the non-medical work force census September 2004. 5. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.  Staff in post: Staff in post data are from the non-medical work force census September 2004.

MMR Vaccination

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the percentage uptake of the MMR vaccination was in  (a) the North East,  (b) the Tees Valley and  (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Immunisation data by primary care trust, strategic health authority and nationally are published annually in the statistical bulletin, 'NHS Immunisation Statistics, England', which is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/fs/en Data are not available by local authority or by electoral ward.

MMR Vaccination

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has undertaken on the effectiveness of the dosage of the MMR vaccine in preventing mumps.

Caroline Flint: A single dose of a mumps-containing vaccine used in the United Kingdom confers between 61 per cent. and 91 per cent. protection against mumps. Although there is limited information on the effectiveness of a second dose of mumps vaccine, a two dose schedule of measles mumps and rubella vaccine should protect most people who do not respond to the first dose(1).
	(1) Plotkin and Orenstein, 2004

NHS (Future Demand)

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the level of demand for NHS provision in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2010 and  (c) 2020.
	(2)  what planning assumptions are made in relation to the demand for health service provision.

Andy Burnham: Estimates of demand for national health service provision in 2007 are being made by strategic health authorities (SHAs) in line with National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/06-2007/08 published by the Department in July 2004. This included the new national targets set out in the public service agreement arising out of the 2004 spending review.
	The Department's role is to agree with SHAs their local delivery plans in the form of data trajectories to achieve national targets. These then form the basis of a business agreement with the SHA against which they are performance managed and held to account for the performance of the NHS within their area.
	SHA plans are aggregated from local primary care trust (PCT) plans and must, as a minimum, meet national target levels and, where appropriate, SHA shares of targets, to be signed off by the Department. Changes may occur during the three year planning period in the light of fresh information and new factors.
	Assessment of demand for 2010 will form part of the 2007 spending review process. The assumptions made in relation to the demand for health service provision in the longer term, including for 2020 are set out in the Wanless Report: Securing Our Future Health: Taking a Long-Term View and are subject to further consideration in the light of new developments and information.

NHS Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expenditure of strategic health authorities (SHA) in the last year for which figures are available was, broken down by major cost area  (a) in total and  (b) for each SHA.

Andy Burnham: Strategic health authority (SHA) expenditure for 2004-05, the latest year available, is shown in the table. The majority of expenditure by SHAs relates to training and education and there will be variation in expenditure because SHAs fund training on behalf of other health bodies.
	
		
			  000 
			  SHA name  Salaries and wages  Training( 1)  Other expenditure  Total expenditure 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 8,148 133,632 4,657 146,437 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5,484 67,205 2,867 75,556 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 16,941 240,451 5,055 262,447 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 7,077 170,540 5,464 183,081 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 3,505 120,696 1,861 126,062 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 5,991 87,714 5,883 99,588 
			 Dorset and Somerset 4,028 45,030 2,396 51,454 
			 Essex 6,757 68,981 4,059 79,797 
			 Greater Manchester 14,088 237,034 6,886 258,008 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 10,902 123,955 4,064 138,921 
			 Kent and Medway 6,128 125,634 6,346 138,108 
			 Leics, Northants and Rutland 5,139 114,769 1,710 121,618 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 7,387 201,632 1,022 210,041 
			 North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 4,365 75,099 2,862 82,326 
			 North Central London 7,735 195,850 3,798 207,383 
			 North East London 8,588 226,312 5,673 240,573 
			 North West London 7,623 189,951 4,059 201,633 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 5,828 75,330 10,580 91,738 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 5,631 59,970 1,392 66,993 
			 South East London 7,900 193,127 4,667 205,694 
			 South West London 7,159 113,559 4,019 124,737 
			 South West Peninsula 6,000 85,378 21,124 112,502 
			 South Yorkshire 26,080 164,837 25,572 216,489 
			 Surrey and Sussex 7,655 114,748 17,056 139,459 
			 Thames Valley 9,215 115,611 7,620 132,446 
			 Trent 4,458 160,148 2,622 167,228 
			 West Midlands South 6,818 61,502 6,948 75,268 
			 West Yorkshire 7,141 197,497 (652) 203,986 
			  
			 England totals 223,771 3,766,192 169,610 4,159,573 
			 (1 )Work force development confederations  Source:  Audited summarisation forms of the strategic health authorities 2004-05

NHS Finance

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what formula her Department uses to determine the payment made to each primary care trust under payment by results.

Andy Burnham: Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. A weighted capitation formula calculates target shares of available resources for each PCT based on the age distribution, additional need and unavoidable geographical variations in the cost of providing services. The 2006-07 allocations have been adjusted to reflect non-recurrently the transitional arrangements for PCTs to support the implementation of payment by results.

NHS Hospital Trusts

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2006,  Official Report, column 743W, on NHS Hospital Trusts, if she will set out the figures for fixed costs identifying those that arise in relation to private finance initiative projects.

Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 12 July 2005,  Official Report, columns 988-89W. The table which has been placed in the Library gives the annual payments by each trust to its private sector partner on private finance initiative schemes which have reached financial close. This table has now been updated to reflect the Barts and London Hospital and the Hull and East Yorkshire private finance initiative schemes reaching financial close since then.

NHS IT Programme

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what models of IT provision were considered for the NHS IT programme.

Caroline Flint: Five commercial and organisational models were considered for delivering a national information technology programme for the national health service before the national programme was launched in its current form. Briefly, these models were to:
	Outsource the whole programme, including local implementation arrangements;
	Selectively outsource major components, whilst delivering some components at a national level via the NHS Information Authority;
	Deliver all major components at a national level, primarily via the NHS Information Authority;
	Decentralise the management of NHS information technology to strategic health authorities; and
	Continue local implementation - the status quo option.
	All the options were considered and scored against a range of key criteria.
	The options, and the option appraisal process, are described in greater detail in 'Delivering 21st century IT support for the NHS: national strategic programme', published in June 2002, which is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk.

Nursing (Thames Valley)

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student places there are for  (a) nursing and  (b) community nursing at universities in the Thames Valley strategic health authority area.

Caroline Flint: Analysis of standard registration population data provided by the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) for 2004-05 shows that there were 2,909 students on pre-registration nurse training courses at Thames Valley University and 790 at Oxford Brookes University. Thames Valley strategic health authority may not have commissioned all of these training places.
	No information is currently available from the HESA data on students enrolled on community nursing courses.

Obesity

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her most recent estimate is of how many children in Torbay constituency are obese.

Caroline Flint: The data are not available in the exact format requested. The main source of data on the prevalence of obesity is the Health Survey for England (HSE). The sample size of the HSE does not allow figures to be produced to the level of Torbay constituency. We do however hold data by Government Office Region (GOR). Torbay falls under the South West GOR. The latest figures for the obesity prevalence of children in South West GOR are taken from 'The Health Survey for England 2002'.
	For children aged two to fifteen in 2001-02 (2001 and 2002 combined), 4.5 per cent. of boys are classified as being obese in the South West. The figure for girls aged two to fifteen is 5.9 per cent.

Orthodontic Services

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many orthodontists were practising in  (a) England,  (b) West Yorkshire and  (c) Huddersfield in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: The number of orthodontists in England is not available centrally as orthodontists are not separately identified within general dental services contracts or personal dental services agreements.

Paediatric Specialists

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric specialists are employed in each strategic health authority area.

Rosie Winterton: The following table shows the paediatric specialists working in the national health service in each current strategic health authority (SHA) area.
	
		
			  Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services: Medical staff within the paediatric group  of specialties by SHAEngland at 30 September 2005 
			All staff  Of which: Consultant 
			 Of which:   Of which: 
			Paediatric group of specialties  Paediatrics  Paediatric cardiology  Paediatric group of specialties  Paediatrics  Paediatric cardiology 
			  England  6,770 6,680 90 2,033 1,985 48 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 275 269 6 92 87 5 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 160 160 (1) 48 48 (1) 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 253 247 6 77 71 6 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 333 326 7 83 79 4 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 142 142 (1) 54 54 (1) 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 190 190 (1) 46 46 (1) 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 102 102 (1) 24 24 (1) 
			 Essex Q03 140 140 (1) 40 40 (1) 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 411 410 1 121 121 (1) 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 209 198 11 74 74 (1) 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 205 205 (1) 52 52 (1) 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 216 213 3 59 56 3 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 267 267 (1) 94 94 (1) 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 160 160 (1) 44 44 (1) 
			 North Central London Q05 319 314 5 113 108 5 
			 North East London Q06 286 286 (1) 71 71 (1) 
			 North West London Q04 436 420 16 131 126 5 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 220 207 13 77 72 5 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 169 169 (1) 51 51 (1) 
			 South East London Q07 396 389 7 130 124 6 
			 South West London Q08 227 227 (1) 65 65 (1) 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 152 152 (1) 44 44 (1) 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 184 184 (1) 56 56 (1) 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 269 269 (1) 72 72 (1) 
			 Thames Valley Q16 264 260 4 76 72 4 
			 Trent Q24 288 288 (1) 82 82 (1) 
			 West Midlands South Q28 156 156 (1) 48 48 (1) 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 341 330 11 109 104 5 
			 (1) Denotes zero.  Source: The information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census

Physiotherapy

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many physiotherapists were employed within the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority area in the last year for which figures are available; and how many physiotherapy training places were available in that year.

Caroline Flint: Information on number of physiotherapists employed within Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area is shown in the table. 2,391 national health service physiotherapy training places were commissioned in 2004-05.
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified physiotherapy staff in the Avon, Gloucestershire  and Wiltshire SHA area by organisation as  at 30 September 2005 
			   Headcount 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA total 1,076 
			 Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 31 
			 Bath and North East Somerset PCT 40 
			 Bristol North PCT 8 
			 Bristol South and West PCT 27 
			 Cotswold and Vale PCT 77 
			 Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 169 
			 Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Trust 25 
			 Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT 72 
			 North Bristol NHS Trust 140 
			 North Somerset PCT 11 
			 Royal National Hospital For Rheumatic Diseases NHS Foundation Trust 25 
			 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust 53 
			 Salisbury Health Care NHS Trust 34 
			 South Gloucestershire PCT 36 
			 South Wiltshire PCT 30 
			 Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust 5 
			 Swindon PCT 89 
			 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust 122 
			 West Gloucestershire PCT 2 
			 West Wiltshire PCT 48 
			 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 32 
			  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, non-medical workforce census

Primary Care Trusts

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust meets the Government's commitment that  (a) 80 per cent. of people with diabetes receive comprehensive retinopathy screening and  (b) 70 per cent. of people with diabetes have received comprehensive retinopathy screening by June 2006.

Caroline Flint: The Department has a range of work in hand to support the national health service in delivering this target. The Department actively performance manages the strategic health authorities (SHAs) to ensure they have arrangements in place to ensure delivery. All primary care trusts (PCTs) are monitored on their progress towards achieving the target. The target is included within the local delivery agreements between SHA and PCTs which are reviewed quarterly through a data return.

Primary Care Trusts

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the effect will be on consultations on major service changes being undertaken by existing primary care trusts if they are not completed before those primary care trusts are dissolved.

Andy Burnham: Where matters such as consultations have not been completed by the time the existing primary care trusts are dissolved, each successor primary care trust will have to decide whether, and if so how, to continue with them.

Primary Care Trusts

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers primary care trusts have to direct the commissioning choices of general practitioners under practice-based commissioning.

Caroline Flint: Practice-based commissioning gives additional freedoms to general practitioner practices to commission innovative services.
	Under practice-based commissioning, primary care trusts (PCTs) remain accountable for all funds allocated to them. Therefore, PCTs retain the power to ensure that all services commissioned meet all relevant quality standards and accreditation, as well as national and local priorities.

Primary Care Trusts

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether new primary care trusts established on 1 October 2006 will be bound by decisions taken by existing primary care trusts that have not been implemented by that date.

Andy Burnham: Where any decisions have not been implemented by the time the existing primary care trusts (PCTs) are dissolved, each successor PCT will have to consider whether, and if so how, to continue with them.

Referral Management Schemes

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many primary care trusts operate referral management schemes; what representations she has received from  (a) hon. Members,  (b) NHS organisations and  (c) other interested parties on the operation of such schemes; what the content of these representations was; and when they were received;
	(2)  pursuant to the oral answer of 7 March 2006,  Official Report, column 71, on Clinical Advisory Liaison Services, to the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry), if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent by her Department's Director of Access to primary care trust chief executives in July 2005.

Andy Burnham: A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library. It is also available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Bulletins/ChiefExecutiveBulletin/BulletinCE/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4115298chk=9VoVmr
	Information on the number of primary care trusts operating referral management schemes is not collected centrally.
	Conducting a comprehensive trawl for all representations received by the Department for references to referral management schemes would incur disproportionate cost. However, a brief search has identified representations from:
	
		
			  Type of representation?parliamentary questions 
			  (a) hon. Members 
			  From  Date received  Content of representation 
			 Tony Baldry MP 7 March 2006 The advice given primary care trusts about the use of clinical advisory liaison services Use of Referral 
			 John Penrose MP 13 and 15 March 2006 Management Centres in North Somerset 
			 Andrew Lansley MP 22 March 2006 Clinical advisory liaison services 
			 Steve Webb MP 3 May 2006 How many primary care trusts are operating general practitioner referral centres

Restrictive Interventions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department will develop a framework for restrictive physical interventions in line with the Welsh Assembly Government's document Framework for Restrictive Interventions Policy and Practice.

Rosie Winterton: The Department commissioned the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce guidelines on the Short-term management of disturbed (violent) behaviour in in-patient psychiatric settings in as early as 2002. The guidelines were published in February 2005 and are available on NICE'S website at www.nice.org.uk/.
	The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) published guidance in 2004 entitled Developing positive practice to support the safe and therapeutic management of aggression and violence in mental health inpatient settings which is available on NIMHE's website at www.nimhe.org.uk.
	NIMHE and National Patient Safety Agency project on the prevention and management of violence will publish guidance and a checklist in 2006 to ensure that all restraint procedures meet rigorous standards. The project team is also developing proposals for the accreditation and regulation of physical intervention trainers.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Acute Trust

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the salary costs of the chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham Acute Trust have been in each year since 2001.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Annual salary of chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 
			   Salary band 
			 2005-06 135,000-140,000 
			 2004-05 130,000-135,000 
			 2003-04 125,000-130,000 
			 2002-03 100,000-105,000 
			  Note: Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust was created in 2002-03. 
		
	
	The figures show the full annual salary. In 2002-03, the chief executive was paid a lower salary since he was carrying out some work for the West Midlands regional health authority. The chief executive was appointed in July 2002, and was accordingly paid a proportion of the salary shown in 2002-03.

School Nurses

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many school nurses are employed in each primary care trust by  (a) headcount and  (b) whole-time equivalent.

Rosie Winterton: The September 2005 census showed that there were 2,887 (1,913 full-time equivalent (fte)) qualified nurses working in the school nursing service, an increase of 478 (19.8 per cent.) since 2004.
	Of these 943 (665 fte) have a post registration school nursing qualification, an increase of 87 (10 per cent.) since 2004.
	Data on the total headcount and full-time equivalent number of qualified nurses in the school nursing area of work by primary care trust is available in the Library.

TB

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the incidence of tuberculosis in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Tuberculosis (TB) rates per 100,000 population for England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1999-2004 are shown in the table.
	
		
			   TB cases 
			 1999 10.8 
			 2000 11.8 
			 2001 12.4 
			 2002 12.7 
			 2003 12.5 
			 2004 13.1 
			  Notes: 1. The Scottish Executive's system for enhanced tuberculosis surveillance differs in some respects and is not entirely comparable with England, Wales and Northern Ireland data. 2. HPA ETS data is only available from 1999 onwards.  Sources: Health Protection Agency (HPA) enhanced tuberculosis surveillance (ETS) scheme. Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates. Data as at 10 May 2005 
		
	
	The Department is working with key partners and stakeholders to deliver the objectives of the chief medical officer's action plan for stopping tuberculosis in England (October 2004).
	The plan includes a commitment to have a high quality surveillance system which aims to provide the information required at local, national and international levels to prevent and control TB. Following consultation with various stakeholders, the HPA intends to create a new web-based system for TB surveillance within the next financial year. The new surveillance system will enable the provision of information on TB cases at local, regional and national level that is timely, relevant, complete and accurate. It will facilitate monitoring of disease trends and treatment outcomes and will help with commissioning services for TB.

Type 2 Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in each of the last 10 years.

Ivan Lewis: The data requested is not held centrally. However, data on the number of type 2 diabetes-related hospital treatment for children under the age of 18 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  All diagnoses count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) for selected diagnoses national health service hospitals England, 1995-96 to 2004-05 
			   Count of FCEs 
			 1995-96 206 
			 1996-97 226 
			 1997-98 223 
			 1998-99 216 
			 1999-2000 242 
			 2000-01 248 
			 2001-02 296 
			 2002-03 350 
			 2003-04 459 
			 2004-05 447 
			  Notes:  Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.  Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis) The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.  Secondary Diagnoses As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 2002-03) secondary diagnosis fields in Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care.  Definition of Selected Diagnoses (ICD-10 Codes) Type 2 diabetes defined as: E11 (non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) or O241 (pre-existing diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent) recorded in primary diagnosis or in any of the secondary diagnoses fields.  Ungrossed Data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Waiting Lists/Times

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting for more than six months for an NHS inpatient operation at the end of each month from November 2005 to April 2006, broken down by hospital trust.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 15 May 2006
	The information requested, apart from the data for April 2006, which are not yet available, has been placed in the Library.
	Figures at provider level include patients resident in Wales waiting for treatment in England, where local health groups have instructed the hospital to apply Welsh waiting time standards. The numbers of patients resident in Wales are not separately identifiable from the provider level data. Consequently, the provider level figures sum to a higher total than the primary care trust/strategic health authority level figures, which do not include patients resident in Wales.
	Any breaches of the waiting time standards are unacceptable and the Department will continue to work closely to support the small number of national health service organisations where patients are waiting over six months.

Waiting Lists/Times

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2006,  Official Report, column 967W, on NHS finance, what level of increased activity in 2006-07 will be necessary for the delivery of the 18-week waiting time target by 2008.

Andy Burnham: To meet the 18-week patient pathway target for the end of December 2008 a series of milestones have been established. The milestones for March 2007 are maximum waits of 11 weeks for first out-patient appointments following general practitioner (GP) written referral, 13 weeks for diagnostics tests and procedures, and 20 weeks for elective in-patient treatment.
	Last spring, the national health service submitted activity plans for 2006-07. These were for 8.2 million first out-patient attendances following GP referral (all specialties), 12.0 million total consultant-led first out-patient attendances (general and acute specialties), and 5.9 million elective hospital admissions (general and acute specialties). Activity plans for 2006-07 are currently being updated and resubmitted by the NHS.

Walk-in Health Care

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) minor injuries departments,  (b) accident and emergency departments and  (c) walk-in centres were operational in England in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: National health service trusts self-report the number of accident and emergency (AE) departments that they provide against definitions that the Department has set for each type of AE. Separate information is also collected specifically on the number of walk-in centres in England. The information available is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Number of type one (major) AE departments  Number of type three AE departments (minor injury and illness services including minor injury units)  Number of walk-in centres 
			 2001-02 196 149 42 
			 2002-03 209 214 42 
			 2003-04 208 225 44 
			 2004-05 207 238 64 
			 2005-06 204 252 69 
			  Notes:(1) QMAE data used for type one and type three AE departments for years 2002-03 to 2005-06.  2. KH03 data used for type one and type three AE departments for year 2001-02.  3. Walk-in centre figures were not collected in QMAE prior to 2003-04, therefore figures from the walk-in centre monthly service report have been used for 2001-02 and 2002-03.  4. As at end March of relevant year except 2005-06 where position is at end December.

Work Force Statistics

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will break down the Health and Social Care Information Centre NHS workforce statistics for  (a) 1995 and  (b) 2005 by Government office region.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 9 May 2006
	The national health service workforce statistics for 1995 and 2005 by Government office region have been placed in the Library.